Five of the country's largest retail pharmacy chains have agreed to increase patients' access to their health information through the ONC's Blue Button Initiative.
The Blue Button Initiative was launched in 2010 by the Department of Veterans Affairs to give veterans the ability to easily access and download their health records by clicking on a blue button within their online patient portal. Since then, the ONC has released guidelines on adopting Blue Button and has promoted its use to providers and payers around the country to help improve patients' access to their own medical information.
Now, Walgreens, Kroger, CVS Caremark, Rite Aid and Safeway have pledged to support the initiative and develop ways to allow customers to more easily access their records. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the Pharmacy Health IT Collaborative and the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations have also pledged to promote Blue Button to the pharmacies they represent.
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