Healthix, the nation’s largest public health information exchange (HIE), has connected its public HIE system to private HIEs operated by Northwell Health and the Mount Sinai Health System.
Typically, clinicians are limited to seeing their own health system’s data, even though patients may be treated outside the health system. As a result, there may be gaps in a patient’s electronic health record (EHR). With the tight integration of three HIEs spanning public and private systems, clinicians have a more complete data set for more informed decision-making, the organizations’ leaders said in a press release.
All three HIEs are built on the InterSystems HealthShare information exchange platform.
With the integration, clinical data generated by Northwell and Mount Sinai (two of the largest health systems in NY) is now available in real time to every other organization in Healthix's network of 16 million patients, and vice versa, without needing to build multiple interfaces. That data includes allergies, documents, immunizations, and other data in a bidirectional exchange of information. And, more types of facilities are participating, including home health, and inpatient and outpatient settings.
“The robust set of clinical data generated by Northwell Health and the Mount Sinai Health System, available in real time, to participants in the Healthix network and across the SHIN-NY, will soon expand to include the complete Common Clinical Data Set promoted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC),” Tom Check, president and CEO of Healthix, said in a statement.
“Connecting our information systems with others was challenging with traditional interfaces, and ongoing maintenance was expensive; we had more than 40 interfaces to manage,” Vish Anantraman, M.D., chief information architect, in Northwell Health’s Information Technology group, said in a statement. “Now with just one interface, we can easily send all the data from our systems to Healthix and the SHIN-NY, it is less expensive to operate, and we have richer clinical data for care coordination.”
“In just a couple months, we are already seeing a deep integration, and the efficiency of providers has increased dramatically,” Donny Patel, director of interoperability and IT at the Mount Sinai Health System, said. “Not just providers, but also health plans will be using the HealthShare platform. One of our insurance partners is looking at it from a care management perspective.”
Healthix brings together data from healthcare organizations throughout greater New York City and Long Island and Healthix data contributors include hospitals, health insurance plans, physician practices, behavioral health facilities, long-term care facilities, Medicaid health homes, New York City correctional facilities, independent labs and radiology centers, independent pharmacies, community-based care organizations, as well as data available from other qualified entities, or local hubs for electronic health information, in the Statewide Health Information Network of New York (SHIN-NY).
Data from two of the largest health systems in New York will expand patient information available to care providers and payers. With New York State’s support and guidance, qualified entities (QEs) such as Healthix have been tasked with expanding the number and type of data elements available to support Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) programs. They are charged with restructuring the healthcare delivery system by reinvesting in the Medicaid program, with the primary goal of reducing avoidable hospital use by 25 percent over five years—and other value-based care programs.
