WASHINGTON – 
This year’s National Health IT Week, held Sept. 12-16 in Washington, D.C., will go down in history.
Not only did President Barack Obama proclaim the week a nationally recognized annual event, but the American Nurses Association (ANA) –representing the interests of 3.1 million registered nurses – pledged support.
Department of Health and Human Services officials recognized the significance of ANA’s support at a first-ever HHS Consumer Health IT summit, held Sept. 12.
ANA’s officials said they plan to draw on the organization’s vast pool of resources to gather examples of the innovative use of healthcare IT in nursing practices. ANA will share these models with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. ANA is also developing educational materials on health information technology for registered nurses to share with consumers, they said.
"Health information technology can improve care by ensuring that care is based on evidence," said ANA President Karen Daley. “This unique platform for compiling and analyzing data also supports one of the strongest tenets of nursing — educating the healthcare consumer."
At the HHS summit, federal officials also announced that the Blue Button Program, launched by the Veterans Health Administration, is now going mainstream. It has extended its reach beyond the VA and is now supported by healthcare providers and health plans, with availability already extended to millions of Americans.
The Obama Administration announced the Blue Button capability in August 2010. It was developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense and the Markle Foundation. With the click of a blue button, users of the program can share a simple version of their healthcare information with trusted parties.
Current sponsors of Blue Button include Kaiser Permanente, McKesson, Microsoft Healthvault, Aetna and United Health Group.
"I'm proud of Blue Button Initiative," said CMS Administrator Donald Berwick. "It is an iconic wonderful idea. The Blue Button isn't just valuable, it's magic. It's the open sesame button that will open the door to a whole new level of care."
