In an unprecedented collaboration, four upstate New York Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIO) announce new connectivity which will allow for the secure exchange of electronic medical records amongst Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany healthcare professionals. This new connected capability between the upstate RHIOs allows providers to securely share 5.4 million patient health records and links 110 hospitals in a 44-county region. This will support patients who seek medical attention outside of their region, move out of their region, or find themselves in an emergency outside of their region, in upstate New York. Through this new connectivity, providers will be able to better coordinate care and reduce healthcare costs.
This new connectivity will allow healthcare professionals from each region to send and receive electronic medical records through secure and encrypted messaging, via each RHIO’s Health Information Service Provider (HISP) capability based upon the Direct Project protocol. The Direct Project protocol enables standards-based health information exchange in support of core Stage 1 Meaningful Use measures, including communication of summary care records, referrals, discharge summaries and other clinical documents in support of continuity of care and medication reconciliation, and communication of laboratory results to providers.
“We are pleased to offer Central New York participating providers the ability to securely share health information with Buffalo, Rochester and Albany regional providers. This extends HealtheConnections’ network of care for patients across upstate New York,” said Rob Hack, executive director, HealtheConnections. “This is especially important for providers and patients in communities where patient care is delivered or coordinated in more than one region.”
HealtheConnections (pronounced “healthy-connections”) is the Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) of Central New York that is responsible for overseeing the secure, electronic health information exchange that gives authorized, participating medical providers access to complete patient medical histories and information in real-time. HealtheConnections brings together employers, hospitals, physicians, insurers and consumers to advance regional high-quality health care, access and safety while maintaining or decreasing costs. HealtheConnections serves the 11 counties in Central New York. For more information, visit www.healtheconnections.org.
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“As Western New Yorkers may find themselves seeking medical care in other parts of the state, this collaboration among the upstate RHIOs provides the ability for their medical data to follow them to those regions and assures that it is securely available when it’s needed most – at the point of care,” said Dan Porreca, executive director, HEALTHeLINK. “This connectivity across upstate New York illustrates how we are leading the country in transforming health IT, and in doing so moving one step closer in the development of the State Health Information Network of New York (SHIN-NY), which in the future will connect all RHIOs and health care organizations across the state and ultimately across the country.”
HEALTHeLINK, the Western New York Clinical Information Exchange, is a collaboration among the region’s hospitals, physicians, health plans and other health care providers to serve the eight counties of western New York State. HEALTHeLINK has been recognized for its work in building a regional health information technology infrastructure and for testing innovative approaches by both state and federal agencies, including being named a Beacon Community, an effort funded by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. For more information please visit www.wnyhealthelink.com.
“Hixny established similar connectivity with Vermont in July as we worked with our neighbors to support a region where patients seek healthcare services in Northern New York and Vermont medical facilities,” said Mark McKinney, CEO of Hixny. “We’re happy to collaborate with the RHIOs in Central and Western New York as well as those in New England to expand this service area. These are important collaborations as Hixny prepares to launch its secure patient portal in 2014. Patients in our region will be empowered to securely view, download and transmit their own medical records via Direct throughout upstate New York and to an ever growing service area.”
Hixny connects more than 1.55 million people in 17 counties throughout the Capital District and Northern New York. Recently Hixny hit two major adoption milestones by receiving its one millionth patient consent as well as receiving information on more than 2.5 million patient visits from physician’s electronic medical records into its’ Health Information Exchange (HIE). For more information please visit, www.Hixny.org.
Added Ted Kremer, MPH, executive director, Rochester RHIO, “The speed and ease with which we have been able to establish connectivity across upstate New York points to how transformative Direct and emerging meaningful use interoperability requirements will be in helping to create a more efficient and transformative health care system.”
Rochester RHIO is a secure electronic health information exchange that gives authorized medical providers access to test results, lab reports, radiology results, medication history, insurance eligibility and more. This nonprofit, community-run organization was created to give health care providers fast access to accurate information about patients so everyone can receive the best care possible. Visit www.grrhio.org for more information.
Date: September 13, 2013