Clarification on Accessing Vitals and Observation Data via Blue Button 2.0 API

[Shaun MR]

Hello everyone,

I am exploring the Blue Button 2.0 API for a project and wanted to confirm the scope of available data. From my understanding, Blue Button 2.0 primarily provides Medicare claims data (e.g., Part A, B, and D claims) and does not include clinical data such as vitals, lab results, or detailed observations.

Could you please confirm if this is correct?

• Is there any way to retrieve vitals or observation/test data directly via Blue Button 2.0?

• If not, are there recommended integrations or companion APIs that can be used in combination with Blue Button to access such clinical data?

Any pointers or documentation references would be highly appreciated.

Thank you,
Shaun MR

[Developer Group for CMS Blue Button API]

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out.  Generally speaking, you are correct, clinical data is not included in Blue Button 2.0 data.There are a limited number of clinical results that are included (HCT-HGB, for example) but these results are not comprehensive.

There is not currently any companion API that we can recommend at this time that would give you access to this data, but as it pertains to Blue Button 2.0, an explanation of our resources can be found at https://bluebutton.cms.gov/developers/#understanding-the-data. The data dictionary defining all of our resources can be found in the ‘Assets’ section of the latest release (https://github.com/CMSgov/beneficiary-fhir-data/releases)

Best,

- The Blue Button 2.0 Team

[Aleida Lanza]

Casedok has sought production access and will be able to curate the complete medical records for all claims in Medicare (records, images, and itemized bills).  And we get all records not just core.

You can contact me at ale...@casedok.com if you’d like to access these services when they are made available.

Regards,

Aleida Lanza

On Sep 23, 2025, at 3:30 PM, Developer Group for CMS Blue Button API <developer-group-for...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



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