The Catalan Department of Health has set up a project ‘Health data to share – Blue Button’ - a new system that allows citizens to get access to their own medical history. This is enabled through a health app known as ‘Catalonia on La Meva Salut (MyHealth)’.
The Catalan public health system is the first in the European Union to create a tool that provides users with the choice of using their own clinical data, and to share data securely with other health systems or areas of research.
Th Blue Button was an initiative that was born in the United States in 2010 as a digital solution for war veterans to access their own health information and dispose of their records.
The Catalan health system is incorporating this functionality into La Meva Salut following the standards developed by the European Union (the EU Patient Summary), in line with implementing guides certified by the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE).
Health data is collected as a patient summary, guaranteeing access to health information, with digital portability and interoperability between health systems: diagnoses, treatment, vaccines, test results, and allergies. In Catalonia, medical discharge information can also be downloaded, and in the future, it is hoped that this information will be expanded.
Overall, this new digital solution empowers users, and enables people to access their own clinical data whilst improving their clinical safety.
Source & Image Credit: EHTEL
