Journal article
Blue Button use by patients to access and share health record information using the Department of Veterans Affairs' online patient portal
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA, Vol.21(4), pp.657-663
07/2014
DOI: 10.1136/amiajnl-2014-002723
PMCID: PMC4078285
PMID: 24740865
Abstract
The Blue Button feature of online patient portals promotes patient engagement by allowing patients to easily download their personal health information. This study examines the adoption and use of the Blue Button feature in the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) personal health record portal, My HealtheVet.
An online survey presented to a 4% random sample of My HealtheVet users between March and May 2012. Questions were designed to determine characteristics associated with Blue Button use, perceived value of use, and how Veterans with non-VA providers use the Blue Button to share information with their non-VA providers.
Of the survey participants (N=18 398), 33% were current Blue Button users. The most highly endorsed benefit was that it helped patients understand their health history better because all the information was in one place (73%). Twenty-one percent of Blue Button users with a non-VA provider shared their VA health information, and 87% reported that the non-VA provider found the information somewhat or very helpful. Veterans' self-rated computer ability was the strongest factor contributing to both Blue Button use and to sharing information with non-VA providers. When comparing Blue Button users and non-users, barriers to adoption were low awareness of the feature and difficulty using the Blue Button.
This study contributes to the understanding of early Blue Button adoption and use of this feature for patient-initiated sharing of health information. Educational efforts are needed to raise awareness of the Blue Button and to address usability issues that hinder adoption.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Blue Button use by patients to access and share health record information using the Department of Veterans Affairs' online patient portal
- Creators
- Carolyn Turvey - Iowa City VA Health Care System, Comprehensive Access and Delivery Research and Evaluation (CADRE) Center, Iowa City, Iowa, USA Department of Psychiatry, The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa, USADawn Klein - Iowa City VA Health Care System, Comprehensive Access and Delivery Research and Evaluation (CADRE) Center, Iowa City, Iowa, USA Department of Psychiatry, The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa, USAGemmae Fix - Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research (CHOIR), A VA HSR&D Center of Innovation, Bedford, Massachusetts, USA Department of Health Policy and Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USATimothy P Hogan - Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research (CHOIR), A VA HSR&D Center of Innovation, Bedford, Massachusetts, USA Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, eHealth Quality Enhancement Research Initiative, National eHealth QUERI Coordinating Center, Bedford, Massachusetts, USA Division of Health Informatics and Implementation Science, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USASusan Woods - Portland VA Medical CenterSteven R Simon - Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USAMary Charlton - Iowa City VA Health Care System, Comprehensive Access and Delivery Research and Evaluation (CADRE) Center, Iowa City, Iowa, USA Department of Epidemiology, The University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USAMary Vaughan-Sarrazin - Iowa City VA Health Care System, Comprehensive Access and Delivery Research and Evaluation (CADRE) Center, Iowa City, Iowa, USA Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa, USADonna M Zulman - Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Center for Innovation to Implementation, Menlo Park, California, USA Division of General Medical Disciplines, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USALilian Dindo - Department of Psychiatry, The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa, USABonnie Wakefield - Iowa City VA Health Care System, Comprehensive Access and Delivery Research and Evaluation (CADRE) Center, Iowa City, Iowa, USA University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing, Columbia, Missouri, USAGail Graham - Veterans and Consumers Health Informatics Office, Office of Informatics & Analytics, Veterans Health Administration, Washington, DC, USAKim Nazi - Veterans and Consumers Health Informatics Office, Office of Informatics & Analytics, Veterans Health Administration, Washington, DC, USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA, Vol.21(4), pp.657-663
- Publisher
- England
- DOI
- 10.1136/amiajnl-2014-002723
- PMID
- 24740865
- PMCID
- PMC4078285
- ISSN
- 1527-974X
- eISSN
- 1527-974X
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 07/2014
- Academic Unit
- Psychiatry; Health Management and Policy; Epidemiology; General Internal Medicine; Internal Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9983995013602771
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