Patient Health Information: Building Access, Encouraging Action And Changing Attitudes

A patient-centered future is in sight. That was the message delivered at the 2012 Consumer Health IT Summit.

Randy Watson is an elderly veteran with congestive heart failure and type 2 diabetes. He has suffered multiple heart attacks and undergone several surgeries over the past 20 years. Tracking down the 600-plus pages that compose his complete health records from multiple providers was costly and time consuming. Now, with the Blue Button, Watson can get it all for free in just a few minutes.

“It’s my right to have it,” he said during the Sept. 10 event held in Washington, D.C. “They’re my medical records and, with the Blue Button, I’ve got control of them.”