San Diego-based Humetrix, developer of the iBlueButton mobile platform, has been invited by the the National Health Service to present a UK version of the technology at the NHS Innovation Expo 2013.
This newest version of iBlueButton will enable UK citizens to use their smartphones to access and share their personal health records with healthcare providers at the point of care, say Humetrix officials, helping avoid medical errors and unnecessary procedures.
The UK version of the iBlueButton platform is expected to be available for consumer use by autumn, 2013.
The demonstration will feature the use of iBlueButton mobile apps to securely view, download and share personal health information from Cerner and TPP SystmOne electronic medical record systems, officials say. TPP maintains health records of more than 26 million NHS patients; Cerner provides its inpatient solution to 22 acute care trusts in the UK.
“We are excited to present to the NHS Innovation Expo a mobile tool for safer transitions of care from a hospital discharge to community care,” said Bettina Experton, MD, founder, CEO and president of Humetrix, and an adjunct professor of medicine at the University of California San Diego Medical School, in a press statement. “iBlueButton has the capability to empower UK citizens in the same way many Americans today use the apps for anywhere/anytime access and exchange of their health records.”
Humetrix will demonstrate how iBlueButton consumer app can download a patient’s hospital discharge summary from a Cerner inpatient EMR, and share the record with the patient’s general practitioner using iBlueButton mobile-to-mobile push technology.
“Our approach enables providers and suppliers to contribute to the innovation in personal health empowerment,” said Brian Carter, senior director of community health solutions at Cerner, in a statement. “This capability,” he added, “is one of many recent examples of Cerner’s dedication to interoperability and data liquidity.”
iBlueButton’s ability to download health records from SystmOne clinical software will also be demonstrated in London, officials say.
“This is yet another step toward empowering patients to take more control over their care. TPP look forward to seeing how this latest innovation will transform care in the NHS,” said TPP Director Drew Litter in a statement.
The iBlueButton apps won the U.S. federal government’s Blue Button Mash-Up Industry Innovation Challenge for enabling patients to access and share with providers their online health records through the Federal Blue Button initiative. The apps are enabled in the U.S. for Medicare beneficiaries, veterans, active-duty military and their families, Aetna plan enrollees and patients using RelayHealth.
Its “dual app system” consists of a consumer app for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, and the iBlueButton Professional app for physicians, which currently runs on iPad. This platform enables two-way direct and secure transmission of health records between the patient’s mobile device and their physician’s tablet.
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