Over six million veterans who receive health care from VA can already download their personal health data using the Blue Button. We want to be sure the 17 million veterans who receive care from non-VA doctors and hospitals can do the same.

Veterans can now expect that downloading their data will be a routine part of the care they receive from VA. We want the general public to think of Blue Button downloads as something they receive from their family doctors as a routine matter.

Moving health data should be safe, simple and inexpensive. Blue Button technology is all of those things. With Blue Button, providers can give their patients the ability to keep and control their own health data. Blue Button also enables patient-authorized sharing with other doctors, hospitals, or points of service - like pharmacies.

Giving our beneficiaries access to their own information, when they want and need it, is in perfect alignment with our vision of the Triple Aim - better care at lower costs and better health for populations. When individuals understand what their health choices are, and can see and analyze them with caregivers or family members, they become powerful members of the health care team. The Blue Button enables this ease of access, and we hope to see the tool and its use grow.

For 21 years, Iatric Systems has enabled hospitals to share pertinent medical data with patients, healthcare providers and communities. Adding Blue Button capabilities to our patient portal furthers our mission of using technology to enhance the delivery of healthcare and patient health.

Intelligent Decisions is excited and committed to be part of the Blue Button initiative. With extensive progress making data available, our vision is to combine the raw data with the disruptive consumer endpoint capabilities of mobile phones and tablets as the best repository to store, represent, consume, digest and analyze the complex medical information that Blue Button capability has enabled.