A 'Blue Button' for Health Data

• Keep a record of download events in immutable audit logs.

• Consider enabling individuals to set up automated notifications for each time their information is downloaded.

• Include source and time stamps for data entries in the information downloads.

So, will there be a bevy of blue buttons soon in our healthcare future? Markle and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are challenging Web developers to "stimulate innovations" that can help patients stay healthy and manage their care using sample patient data sets made available by the VA and CMS. The challenge, to be staged at the Health 2.0 Conference in San Francisco next month, will offer $2,500 to the winner.

So maybe getting our personal health information in a timely and secure fashion could soon become as easy as ordering on Amazon or even filing our taxes online—just with the press of a blue button.