N.Y. eHealth Collaborative Joins Consortium for State and Regional Interoperability
The nonprofit New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC), which leads health information exchange efforts across the state of New York, has joined the Consortium for State and Regional Interoperability (CSRI), a collection of the nation’s largest and most robust nonprofit health data networks.
NYeC joins founding CSRI members Contexture, CRISP, CyncHealth, Indiana Health Information Exchange, and Manifest MedEx. CSRI members share best practices and advocate for strong health data utilities in every state.
“Adding NYeC as a member of CSRI clearly strengthens our organization,” said John Kansky, board president of CSRI and CEO of the Indiana Health Information Exchange, in a statement. “The thought-leadership and industry influence of NYeC will help us advance our vision of a health data utility in every state. Growing our membership with partners like NYeC will enable CSRI to further the work of health data utilities across the country.”
CSRI defines the health data utility (HDU) as a single organization or a jointly governed cooperative of a small number of organizations, ideally operated by a not-for-profit organization with multi-stakeholder governance, that seeks to meet the comprehensive health data and health data analytics needs of both the public and private sectors within a state. HDUs may serve a range of specific use cases and vary in terms of maturity and the breadth of network and services they provide, but there are core functions and capabilities that are common across them, such as the ability to securely aggregate real-time health data from multiple sources and provide statewide health data analytics to support public health and Medicaid programs.
“We have the tools to transform healthcare and make lives better, but we can’t do that in silos,” said David Horrocks, NYeC CEO, in a statement. “Joining CSRI is a big step to expand the work we are doing at NYeC to improve healthcare by collaboratively leading, connecting, and integrating health information exchange across the state and beyond.”
NYeC oversees the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY). Pronounced “shiny,” it facilitates the secure electronic exchange of patient health information statewide. In partnership with the New York State Department of Health, NYeC developed and manages the technology platform that connects New York’s Qualified Entities (QEs) and enables the sharing of data statewide. The SHIN-NY connects 100 percent of the hospitals in New York State, over 100,000 healthcare professionals, and represents millions of people living in or receiving care in New York.
Before taking the helm at NYeC, Horrocks had been the president and CEO of CRISP since its formation in 2009. While at CRISP, he helped launch CRISP Shared Services, an affiliation by which five state-designated HIEs share a single technology operation to gain economies of scale and share best practices. In 2012, CRISP developed an ADT-based encounter notification system that became a model for the country’s HIEs.
Last September, NYeC announced the development of a uniform Statewide Common Participation Agreement (SCPA) – a new, common legal framework for all healthcare entities that participate in the SHIN-NY.
The New York State Department of Health has approved the SCPA, the first step in implementing regulatory reforms to SHIN-NY since its inception in 2016.
NYeC said the SCPA will improve the SHIN-NY’s ability to make health records available statewide, outside of regional silos, and allow every participant to choose where and how they obtain their HIE services, in addition to facilitating critical statewide services such as those supporting the Medicaid waiver program. The SCPA also ensures decisions about data use are transparently vetted and aligned with SHIN-NY privacy and security policies and procedures by a Statewide Data Use Committee comprised of SHIN-NY participants.
