The Department of Veterans Affairs is holding a contest to see which team can build a personal health record using the Blue Button download format and arranges to install those health records on the websites of 25,000 physicians across the country.
The challenge winner will receive a $50,000 prize.
“Over six million Veterans who receive health care from VA can already download their personal health data using the Blue Button,” said VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. “We want to be sure the 17 million Veterans who receive care from non-VA doctors and hospitals can do the same.”
VA first offered Blue Button downloads through its My HealtheVet website in August, 2010. Since then nearly 300,000 Veterans have downloaded their PHR data, including upcoming appointments at a VA Medical Center, medications, allergies, health reminders and, in a recent upgrade, their laboratory results, the agency said.
“Veterans can now expect that downloading their data will be a routine part of the care they receive from VA,” said White House Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra. “We want Veterans across America – and the general public – to think of Blue Button downloads as something they receive from their family doctors as a routine matter.”
The contest will run through October 18, 2011, unless a winner is declared sooner.
Contest rules are available at http://challenge.gov/VAi2/198-blue-button-for-all-americans.
