ONC and the Department of Veterans Affairs have teamed up to launch a new Standards & Interoperability Initiative to automate “Blue Button” by developing standards and specifications that allow patients to not only download their health information to their personal computer, but also to private and securely automate the sending of that data from their health care providers to a preferred holding place—either a personal health record, email account, or other health-related application. This effort will ensure that consumers have the most current, up-to-date information about their health at their fingertips whenever they need it.