Two New York regional health information exchanges, HealthlinkNY and HealtheConnections, have formed a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating HIE use by providers. The HIE leader contend that the partnership will provide more value to providers by offering innovative technology, new capabilities, and richer data for participants in the HIE.
The HIEs, which are two of the state’s eight qualified entities (QE) connected by the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY), together cover 43 percent of New York State. Binghamton-based HealthlinkNY and HealtheConnections, based in Syracuse, leaders said the partnership will connect providers across much of New York State, from the northern border of New York City, through the Hudson Valley, and throughout the Southern Tier and Central New York to the Canadian border. The partnership is the result of months of collaboration following HealthlinkNY’s decision to seek a strategic partner in 2017.
Staci Romeo, HealthlinkNY’s executive director, said she chose HealtheConnections because their technological platform is “exceptional,” and HealtheConnections’ “quality of services and customer engagement processes completely align with HealthlinkNY’s mission and values.”
“HealtheConnections has proven technology and associated services that create value for providers. We’re thinking progressively and looking to offer resources such as tools to measure quality and support value-based care systems,” Romeo said in a statement. “We want a partner with innovative services and an unwavering commitment to providing value to providers by enabling them to improve care and efficiency, as well as save time and money.”
The announcement came just a few days after HealthlinkNY publicly opposed another regional HIE’s plans to expand its services into HealthlinkNY’s market. In a press release issued early last week, Romeo responded to plans by Hixny, an HIE based in Albany that historically covered north and west of the Capital District, to expand into nine counties in HealthlinkNY’s territory and called Hixny’s move “a case of sour grapes after being passed over during our search for a strategic partner.”
Rob Hack, president and CEO of HealtheConnections, said the strategic partnership was inspired, in part, by a statewide effort to optimize costs and efficiencies to increase use and adoption of regional HIEs and the network that connects them all—the SHIN-NY. “HealtheConnections and HealthlinkNY have a shared vision of using health data to create healthier communities, improve healthcare delivery, and deliver value to providers. This type of progress can only be achieved through enhanced collaboration and looking beyond the status quo.,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to do here—accelerate the great work that has already begun. The HIE works to its fullest potential when all parties, providers and HIEs alike, work together toward the common goal.”
Romeo said that HealthlinkNY will begin to migrate its current HIE interface to HealtheConnections’ platform in early 2019. With the new platform, users will be able to further filter data, set up advanced alerts and results routing, and have access to more databases, including the New York State Immunization Information System (NYSIS), Veteran’s Administration (VA), and Department of Defense (DOD), she said. Other enhancements include fully integrated analytics and reporting value-based payment support and advisory services; quality measurements; and clinical dashboards that provide usable data to identify gaps in care.
“The user experience is key,” Romeo said of the technology and services. “Both HealthlinkNY and HealtheConnections are coming from a place where we put providers first, and that includes offering providers a nimble and intuitive platform and services that support the way they deliver care and help their organizations save time and money.”
Romeo pointed out an additional benefit to providers: Both HealthlinkNY and HealtheConnections have built “hub” connections to widely-used electronic health records (EHR) systems. HealthlinkNY has 21 hubs and HealtheConnections has 13 hubs. Combined, providers will have access to 50 different hub and custom connection options, she said.
Hack called the partnership “a game-changer” because together the two entities will be able to accelerate new participant growth, data contributions, development of new analytics, and community health improvement results. “The idea,” said Hack, “is to transform and improve patient care, improve the health of our population, and lower health care costs.”
Together, HealthlinkNY and HealtheConnections will operate a service area that covers 24 counties, more than one-third of the 62 counties in New York State, and connect all of the region’s 66 hospitals, which comprise 27 percent of all hospitals in New York State.
According to HealthlinkNY and HealtheConnections leaders, both HIEs administer collaborative population health improvement initiatives in their regions, and they are the only HIEs in New York State that administer Population Health Improvement Program (PHIP) grants.
Currently, HealthlinkNY’s HIE stretches across 13 counties, and its population health arm manages the Southern Tier Regional Addiction Resource Center. The HealthlinkNY Community Network works with partners on many additional population health efforts in 14 counties in the Hudson Valley, Catskills, and Southern Tier of New York. HealtheConnections has a strong regional presence in 11 counties in the Central and Northern New York regions, where 80 percent of physicians actively use its HIE, and 75 percent of providers contribute data.
