HealtheConnections and HealthlinkNY have officially merged into one HIE across northern and central New York, as well as the Southern Tier and Hudson Valley regions.
Two New York regional health information exchanges have officially merged to form HealtheConnections, which will connect providers throughout central and northern New York, as well as the Southern Tier and Hudson Valley regions.
Regional health information exchange organizations HealthlinkNY and HealtheConnections initiated the merger in September 2018 after announcing a strategic partnership. Both entities decided a merger would improve their ability to achieve regional health data exchange goals and better meet the needs of patients and providers across their combined regions.
The HIEs completed operational and legal integration processes on May 1. Rob Hack will remain the CEO of the newly-formed HealtheConnections, and HealthlinkNY Executive Director Staci Romeo will become Vice President of HIE Customer Engagement Services.
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“We look forward to expanding the work we’re doing to support the broader reach this merger brings,” Hack said. “HealtheConnections is, first and foremost, a solutions company. Through trusted collaboration, we partner with our customers and leverage our key competencies in customer engagement and technology solutions to deliver the highest level of value.”
HealtheConnections operates a regional HIE, community and population health improvement teams, and a value0based care solutions division. Regionally, it is the largest HIE in the state of New York and spans 26 counties. HealtheConnections currently has locations in Syracuse, Binghamton, Hopewell Junction, and a forthcoming location in Tarrytown.
“As this process comes to a close, it is energizing to look toward the future to deliver the value that our participants have come to rely on,” Hack said.
HealtheConnections will work to improve population health and care quality across New York by connecting participating providers to a single, comprehensive patient medical record. The HIE will enable healthcare providers across organizations to quickly and securely access patient health information for better-informed clinical decision making.
Large health systems, individual physician practices, payers, and other organizations currently participate in HealtheConnections. More than 1,300 healthcare organizations are connected across 3,000 locations, which enables more than 7,800 providers to access patient health data.
HealtheConnections is an accredited entity part of the Statewide Health Information Network of New York. The merger is supported by the New York State Department of Health and aligns with the goals of the SHIN-NY 2020 roadmap.
The roadmap outlines the projected evolution for SHIN-NY under value-based care and sets forth five strategies to achieve performance-based contracting, policy changes, and advocacy.
“The Statewide Health Information Network for New York’s 2020 Roadmap is an ambitious plan which will further New York State’s efforts to improve care, increase fiscal accountability, and enhance the patient-provider relationship,” said New York State Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, MD, in a press release at the time.
HealtheConnections and HealthlinkNY announced plans to merge earlier this year.
“Our goal for a strategic partnership was to deliver enhanced services and combined synergies that would benefit our stakeholders,” HealthlinkNY Executive Director Staci Romeo stated.
“We partnered with HealtheConnections because they have a proven record of success, and their quality of services and processes directly align with our mission,” she continued. “We’re thinking progressively, and as a combined entity, there will be operational efficiencies and increased value for our participants, stakeholders and partners as a single trusted resource.”
Date: May 03, 2019
Source: EHR Intelligence