Letters1 May 2012Access to the Medical RecordDonna M. Zulman, MD, MS, Kim M. Nazi, MA, Steven M. Asch, MD, MPH, and Todd H. Wagner, PhDDonna M. Zulman, MD, MSFrom Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, CA 94025; Veterans and Consumers Health Informatics Office, Albany, NY 12208; and Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, CA 94025.Search for more papers by this author, Kim M. Nazi, MAFrom Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, CA 94025; Veterans and Consumers Health Informatics Office, Albany, NY 12208; and Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, CA 94025.Search for more papers by this author, Steven M. Asch, MD, MPHFrom Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, CA 94025; Veterans and Consumers Health Informatics Office, Albany, NY 12208; and Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, CA 94025.Search for more papers by this author, and Todd H. Wagner, PhDFrom Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, CA 94025; Veterans and Consumers Health Informatics Office, Albany, NY 12208; and Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, CA 94025.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-156-9-201205010-00016 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:In their editorial (1) on our article (2), Feeley and Shine pose questions to consider as health systems enable patients to access and share their electronic health records. The issues that they raise are relevant and timely, and data emerging from the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system provide some initial answers.Patients in the VA health system are embracing opportunities to take ownership of their medical records. In August 2010, President Obama announced the creation of a new “Blue Button” feature on the VA's personal health record, My HealtheVet (3). The Blue Button enables patients to ...