HEALTHeLINK, Western New York’s clinical information exchange, has reached one million uniquely consented patients, the organization announced this week.
The Buffalo, N.Y.-based HIE is a collaboration among hospitals, physicians, health plans and other health care providers in the eight counties of western New York State to securely exchange clinical information to improve the quality of care, enhance patient safety and mitigate health care costs. The organization also stated that approximately 95 percent of those who consent authorize their health information to be shared among treating providers.
HEALTHeLINK is a qualified entity of the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY), which enables providers to access their patients’ data from across the state.
“Getting to one million patients is a significant milestone as patients hold the key to enabling their treating providers to have a more complete picture of their medical record,” Daniel Porreca, HEALTHeLINK’s executive director, said in a statement. “By consenting to allow your health care providers to access your medical information through HEALTHeLINK, you are giving them instant access to information that has proven to improve the quality of care, enhance safety, and reduce health care costs through the elimination of duplicate testing.”
