Oct 23
2013
Humetrix’s iBlueButton Chosen for California Health Information Exchange Pilot
Del Mar, Calif., October 23, 2013 – Humetrix, a provider of consumer-centric mobile healthcare applications, and the developer of the multi-award-winning iBlueButton app, today announced that the State of California Office of Health Information Integrity (OHII) has chosen iBlueButton to participate in its upcoming Health Information Exchange (HIE) pilot. Conducted in partnership with the National Association for Trusted Exchange (NATE), the Humetrix pilot began on October 11 and will allow patients to view, download and transmit their personal health records using their mobile device.
The iBlueButton app is designed to give anyone their own mobile Health IT system. The pilot will allow patients to receive directly on their smartphone their health record coming from any doctor participating in the San Diego Regional Health information Exchange. Participating providers include University of California at San Diego (USCD) Health System and San Diego Kaiser Medical Center, among others.
The Humetrix iBlueButton pilot will also enable veterans to receive on their iBlueButton app both their VA Blue Button health records as well as other records sent by providers participating in the San Diego Regional Health Information Exchange, so that their complete health is available wherever they receive care.
“We are grateful to have Humetrix collaborating with all the stakeholders involved in the pilot. Exploring how a common trust framework can be leveraged to make it easier for patients using Direct-enabled PHRs, like iBlueButton, to get engaged in their care will better enable NATE and the nation to move forward on meaningful exchange between patients and their providers,” said Aaron Seib, program director of the NATE Pilot and NATE CEO.
“We are delighted to have been chosen for CalOHII’s project,” said Dr. Bettina Experton, Humetrix’s CEO. “iBlueButton changes the patient-physician dynamic – with easy access to their own data, patients become much more informed and active participants in their own care, which will improve patient outcomes and healthcare system efficiencies. We look forward to working with CalOHII and NATE to demonstrate the effectiveness of PHR solutions including mobile applications which we believe will have large impacts on both costs and on the quality of care.”
About California’s Office of Health Information Integrity
CalOHII is a State office within the California Health and Human Services Agency, which provides policy guidance and support to ensure that health information can be shared with the patient, the patient’s providers and other key stakeholders in accordance with state and federal law. OHII provides education that may be used to shape policy and, when needed, convenes stakeholders and implements regulation to enable the secure transport of health information. CalOHII provides oversight and review of departments’ compliance with implementation of HIPAA regulations. Additionally, CalOHII has an investigative arm to prosecute individuals that violate California medical information privacy laws. Visit www.ohii.ca.gov
About NATE
National Association for Trusted Exchange (NATE) brings the expertise of state programs together to find common solutions that optimize appropriate exchange of health information for greater gains in adoption and outcomes. Emerging from a pilot project supported by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, NATE is a not-for-profit, incorporated in Washington, D.C., Established as an Association of States seeking to collaborate on advancing health information exchange for everyone NATE strives to facilitate common, scalable solutions across all boundaries. Visit http://nate-trust.org/
About iBlueButton
iBlueButton is an industry response to the federal Blue Button initiative to make electronic medical records available to everyone by leveraging technology to improve patient-provider exchange of information and quality of care. Blue Button is already available to 100 million patients. The iBlueButton app lets consumer download their Blue Button health records from Medicare, insurance plans and EMR patient portals, and other vital medical records such as x-ray images, directly to their Android or iOS smartphone. They can also share them with their doctor via a voluntary “push” of those records from their own device to their healthcare provider’s iPad. Visit www.ibluebutton.com
About Humetrix
Humetrix has pioneered the development of innovative consumer-centered IT solutions over the past 15 years, which have been deployed around the world. The company’s iBlueButton and ICEBlueButton app are the mobile embodiment of the Federal Blue Button initiative launched in 2010 by the Veterans Administration, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the U.S. Department of Defense, now embraced by over 500 organizations and available to more than 100 million Americans. For more information, visit www.humetrix.com