The Healthcare Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers Capital Grants Program (HEAL NY), an initiative passed in 2004, has helped change the state’s healthcare landscape, according to data study published in Health Affairs.
HEAL NY has awarded $160 in grants committed to health IT infrastructure throughout the state, says the study, which was supported by the New York-based Commonwealth Fund. The program is designed to help regional alliances of physician practices, hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories, and other stakeholders pursue implementation of health information exchange, interoperable electronic records, or electronic prescribing. It plans to invest $250 in health IT, says the study.
Data from another Commonwealth Fund-supported study indicate that a lack of products with real value for consumers may be a primary reason for the slow adoption of personal health records. The study, which was led by James S. Kahn, M.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, was also published in Health Affairs.
