Last week, ONC kicked off National Health IT Week with the Consumer HealthIT Summit, a celebration of progress in consumer engagement through health IT, and an opportunity to catalyze yet more action among stakeholders such as patients, providers, payers, IT developers, consumer advocacy organizations, and electronic health record (EHR) vendors in the near future.  A few highlights:

• The “Blue Button” is evolving from a specific standard (downloading a text file) to a broader concept meaning “download and share my health data” for Americans nationwide.
• ONC’s Pledge Program has grown from 30 to more than 400 organizations in less than a year (and has been renamed “the Blue Button Pledge Program”).
• The Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements released last month included the stipulation that patients be given the capability to view, download, and transmit their health data electronically from their provider’s EHR. And the terms of the Blue Button Pledge are evolving to keep all these concepts in sync.

A key theme that came through the Consumer Health IT Summit was that consumer engagement via health IT is a movement—government is acting as a convener and catalyst, but it’s the community of stakeholders that is making it happen. In short, it’s you—and everyone else who cares enough to get involved.

#VDTnow Twitter Pledge

In the spirit of catalyzing action,and consistent with our Blue Button Pledge, a few days before the Summit we sent out a Tweet using hashtag #VDTnow challenging EHR vendors to commit to meet the Meaningful Use “view, download, and transmit” capabilities for patients early—by the HIMSS Annual Conference, which is scheduled for March 3 – 7, 2013.  Then we gave a shout out on stage to the vendors who confirmed their willingness to participate. So who’s in?

• Alere Wellogic
• AllScripts
• AthenaHealth
• AZZLY
• Cerner
• eClinicalWorks
• Greenway Medical Technologies
• Intellicure
• NextGen
• SOAPware

How to Get Involved

Want to join? It’s not too late. Tweet your pledge using #VDTnow, and we’ll add you to the list.

Consumer Health IT Summit Videos

Check out the videos from the Consumer Health IT Summit to learn more about the event:

• Blue Button: The Early Days – 2012 Consumer Health IT Summit
• ONC’s Strategy for Engaging Consumers – 2012 Consumer Health IT Summit
• Blue Button: What Lies Ahead – 2012 Consumer Health IT Summit
• Federal Initiatives to Liberate Health Data – 2012 Consumer Health IT Summit
• Making Health Data Available and Encouraging Consumers – 2012 Consumer Health IT Summit
• Closing Remarks – 2012 Consumer Health IT Summit

Additional Information

• Consumer Health IT Summit
• Blue Button Pledge
• HealthIT.gov – Patients and Families