DevEx Survey (2026)

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Intro
Hi, Blue Button API community! Your feedback will help us improve the Blue Button API, and we value your honesty. This is an annual survey that assesses how well we're serving our community and identifies areas for improvement.

This survey should take about 15 minutes.
What is the goal?
This information collection is to understand the gaps, needs, and satisfaction levels of the engineers and product managers who build using the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Blue Button API. This survey sets a baseline understanding of those needs to track them over time.
 
How long will it take?
The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 15 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and to review and complete the information collection.
 
You can leave for any reason and your privacy is important.
This information collection is voluntary, and confidential. If you have comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate(s) or suggestions for improving this form, please write to: CMS, 7500 Security Boulevard, Attn: PRA Reports Clearance Officer, Mail Stop C4-26-05, Baltimore, Maryland 21244-1850.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0938-1185.

CMS Disclosure
Please do not send applications, claims, payments, medical records, or any documents containing sensitive information to the PRA Reports Clearance Office. Please note that any correspondence not pertaining to the information collection burden approved under the associated OMB control number listed on this form will not be reviewed, forwarded, or retained. If you have questions or concerns regarding where to submit your documents, please contact [email protected].
Demographic info
    1. *How long have you personally been interacting with the Blue Button API? (single choice)
        a. Less than a year
        b. 
        c. 1-3 yrs
        d. 4+ yrs
        e. N/A
    2. *How would you classify your app that is using the Blue Button API? (single choice)
        a. Plan finder / enrollment tool
        b. Clinical research 
        c. Personal health record
        d. Medication management
        e. Chronic condition management
        f. Data-sharing (allowing enrollees to share their data with trusted individuals, caregivers, or organizations)
        g. Data facilitator (providing Blue Button data as a service to other apps)
        h. Proof of coverage / eligibility
        i. Other: ________
    3. *Which of the following best describes your role in your organization? (single choice)
        a. I make decisions to support my product and find the right data to make it possible
        b. I make technical decisions and build the integration with APIs
        c. Other ______
    4. *If you are an engineer, how much experience as a software engineer do you have? (single choice)
        a. Less than 1 year of experience
        b. 1-2 years of experience
        c. 3-5 years of experience
        d. 6-9 years of experience
        e. 10+ years of experience
        f. None (not a developer/engineer)
    5. *How did you find out about the Blue Button API? (checkboxes)
        a. Word of mouth from my network, team, customers, or partners
        b. Web searches for my use case, Medicare data, or FHIR APIs
        c. Industry conferences
        d. Policy documents 
        e. Government events / announcements (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (formerly called the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC)), etc.)
        f. FHIR conference/connectathon, Zulip chat, accelerator
        g. My organization already had a connection with the Blue Button API before I joined
        h. Social media and industry blogs
        i. Press releases and new reports
        j. Other ________________
    6. *What programming language(s) is your application written in? (multiple choice)
        a. JavaScript / TypeScript
        b. Python
        c. React / Next.js
        d. C# / .NET
        e. Node
        f. PHP
        g. Java
        h. Ruby
        i. Elixir
        j. HTML/CSS
        k. Other______
    7. How would you describe your experience with Fast Health Interoperability Resources (FHIR)? (single choice)
        a. No experience
        b. Aware of FHIR conceptually
        c. Have read FHIR documentation
        d. Have implemented FHIR APIs
        e. Have designed FHIR-based systems
    8. *What types of additional data sources does your app integrate with? (multiple choice)
        a. State Medicaid data
        b. Claims data from other payers
        c. Claims data from Medicare BCDA API
        d. Clinical data from health plans / providers
        e. Clinical data from the VA API
        f. VA veteran status verification API
        g. VA veteran service history and eligibility API
        h. Login.gov 
        i. Wearable device data (Apple Watch, Dexcom, Fitbit, Garmin, Oura, etc)
        j. Fitness apps (Apple Health, MyFitnessPal, Runkeeper, Strava, etc)
        k. No additional data sources; Blue Button  API data only
        l. Other ________________ 
    9. *How many people are in your organization? (single choice)
        a. 1-4 people
        b. 5-49 people
        c. 50-199 people
        d. 200-999 people
        e. 1,000+ people
Overall Experience and Support
    1. *How would you describe your overall experience with the Blue Button API? (single choice)
        a. Very Poor
        b. Poor
        c. Neutral
        d. Good
        e. Excellent
    2. *How does the Blue Button API compare to other APIs you’ve used? (single choice)
        a. Much worse
        b. Worse
        c. About the same
        d. Better
        e. Much better
        f. N/A - I've only used the Blue Button API
    3. *Please provide context on how you answered the previous question
        a. (Open-ended for details)
    4. *Which of the following have you interacted with at any time when working with the Blue Button API? (checkboxes)
        a. Blue Button website (https://bluebutton.cms.gov/)
        b. Blue Button Sandbox (https://sandbox.bluebutton.cms.gov/v1/accounts/mfa/login)
        c. Production access/credentialing process (https://bluebutton.cms.gov/developers/#production-api-access)
        d. Swagger documentation (https://sandbox.bluebutton.cms.gov/docs/openapi)
        e. Node & React sample applications (https://github.com/CMSgov/bluebutton-sample-client-nodejs-react) 
        f. Python & React sample applications(https://github.com/CMSgov/bluebutton-sample-client-python-react)
        g. Node SDK (https://www.npmjs.com/package/cms-bluebutton-sdk)
        h. Python SDK (https://pypi.org/project/cms-bluebutton-sdk/)  
        i. Synthetic data (https://bluebutton.cms.gov/developers/#synthetic-data)
        j. Blue Button Google Groups community (https://groups.google.com/g/developer-group-for-cms-blue-button-api) 
        k. Blue Button support email ([email protected]) 
        l. None of the above 
    5. *Which of the following do you use most when working with the Blue Button API? (checkboxes)
        a. Blue Button website (https://bluebutton.cms.gov/)
        b. Blue Button Sandbox (https://sandbox.bluebutton.cms.gov/v1/accounts/mfa/login)
        c. Swagger documentation (https://sandbox.bluebutton.cms.gov/docs/openapi)
        d. Node & React sample application (https://github.com/CMSgov/bluebutton-sample-client-nodejs-react) 
        e. Python & React sample application (https://github.com/CMSgov/bluebutton-sample-client-python-react)
        f. Synthetic data (https://bluebutton.cms.gov/developers/#synthetic-data)
        g. Node SDK (https://www.npmjs.com/package/cms-bluebutton-sdk)
        h. Python SDK (https://pypi.org/project/cms-bluebutton-sdk/)  
        i. Blue Button Google Groups community (https://groups.google.com/g/developer-group-for-cms-blue-button-api) 
        j. Blue Button support email ([email protected])  
        k. None of the above
Grid with answers from Q6 on left and answers on right for the next question:
    1. *How satisfied are you with each of the following support resources? (single choice)
        a. Very satisfied
        b. Moderately satisfied
        c. Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
        d. Moderately dissatisfied
        e. Very dissatisfied
        f. N/A
    2. What types of additional support resources would be most valuable to you?
        a. (Open-ended)
[CONDITIONAL BASED ON LENGTH OF TIME USING BB2 - 0-11 MO.] Discoverability 
For the following questions, remember back to when you first started using the Blue Button API ≈ 
    1. *How easy or difficult was it to begin using the Blue Button API? (single choice)
        a. Very Difficult 
        b. Difficult 
        c. Neutral 
        d. Easy 
        e. Very Easy
        f. N/A 
    2. What gaps or unclear parts in the documentation were confusing when you first started using them?
        a. (Open-ended)
    3. How could we make the onboarding process for developers more effective?
        a. (Open-ended)
Building with Blue Button
    1. *How would you rate the usability of the Blue Button API’s design (e.g., endpoint structure, naming conventions)? (single choice)
        a. Very Poor
        b. Poor
        c. Neutral
        d. Good
        e. Excellent
        f. N/A I don't work with Blue Button at this level
    2. If there were any specific endpoints or features you found challenging to use, which ones were they? What made them challenging?
        a. (Open-ended)
    3. *How useful or not useful are the API error messages and status codes in helping you resolve issues? (single choice)
        a. Not Useful
        b. Slightly Useful
        c. Neutral 
        d. Useful 
        e. Very Useful
        f. N/A I don't work with Blue Button at this level
    4. [CONDITIONAL IF THEY ANSWER NEUTRAL - NOT USEFUL] Which error messages or status codes were least useful in resolving issues?
        a. (Open-ended)
Performance and Reliability
    1. *How would you rate the Blue Button API’s performance in terms of speed and reliability? (single choice)
        a. Very Poor
        b. Poor
        c. Neutral
        d. Good
        e. Excellent
        f. N/A I haven't used the Blue Button API yet
    2. *Have you encountered any unexpected performance behavior? (single choice)
        a. Yes
        b. No
        c. Unsure
    3. [CONDITIONAL IF THEY ANSWER YES] Please describe.
        a. (Open-ended for details)


Enhancements
    1. What new features, endpoints, or data sources would significantly improve your experience?
        a. (Open-ended)
    2. What additional data sources would you like to get access to if they were available in the Blue Button API? (multiple choice)
        a. Long-term post-acute care assessment data
        b. Prior Authorization data
        c. Claims that are not fully processed
        d. Veterans Health Administration eligibility status
        e. State Medicaid claims data
        f. Medicare Advantage encounter data (claims data)
        g. No other additional data sources
        h. Other sources: ___________
    3. What tools, SDKs, or integrations would simplify your work with the Blue Button API?
        a. (Open-ended)
    4. What functionalities are present in other patient access APIs that you wish were in the Blue Button API?
        a. (Open-ended)
    5. If you could change one thing about the Blue Button API, what would it be?
        a. (Open-ended)
    6. Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience with the Blue Button API?
        a. (Open-ended)
Closing
    1. *Would you be willing to participate in a follow-up discussion about your responses?
        a. Yes
        b. No
    2. [CONDITIONAL IF THEY ANSWER YES] Please add the best email address for the Blue Button API team to contact you.
        a. (Open-ended/validate for email)