InterSystems Corporation, the global leader in software for connected health care, today announced that the Healthcare Information Xchange of New York (HIXNY) has completed implementation of InterSystems HealthShare™ as its core health information exchange (HIE) platform. A member of the State Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY), HIXNY serves healthcare facilities and patients throughout 17 counties in the Albany region and northern New York State via a connected health care technology infrastructure built on HealthShare.
“Furthermore, HealthShare enables easy access to the HIXNY portal and seamless integration with multiple electronic health records (EHRs) and systems in a standards-based way.”
InterSystems specializes in advanced integration, database, business intelligence, and health information exchange technologies. HIXNY is a not-for-profit organization comprised of local physician groups, hospitals, health care associations, health plans, institutions of higher learning, government, employers and other health care entities. HIXNY's members include health plans in the Greater Capital Region and Northern New York representing over 400,000 members; major regional hospitals with over 3,200 beds; large physician groups representing a total of 500 physicians; health care associations representing 56 hospitals and over 30 health plans in New York state; a university/school of public health; a consumer advocacy group; and a business group comprised of Capital Region employers.
HealthShare Enables Fast, Easy, Standardized Portal Access
With the completion of the move from a legacy health information exchange platform to HealthShare, HIXNY is well positioned to move forward with adding new capabilities for the hundreds of clinicians who are currently accessing the network portal. "The speed at which we can add new types of data and data sources is a major benefit resulting from the move to HealthShare," said Dominick A. Bizzarro, CEO of HIXNY. "Furthermore, HealthShare enables easy access to the HIXNY portal and seamless integration with multiple electronic health records (EHRs) and systems in a standards-based way."
Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) profiles using Continuity of Care Document (CCD) specifications are used for integration with the EHR. "This approach helps ensure flexible, fast response in a rapidly changing health care environment," Bizzarro noted.
HIXNY is proactive about signing up providers as members of the HIE. "HIXNY maintains excellent relationships with providers in our region which enhances our ability to recruit them into our regional extension program and then into the HIE," said Bizzarro. "This member enrollment makes it possible for the providers to electronically exchange data and to accept laboratory data in a structured way into their EHRs. This helps our members position themselves to fulfill the meaningful use requirements for electronic data exchange," he pointed out.
Hospital Labs Go Live on HIXNY
Nearly 200,000 e-prescriptions have been written via the HIXNY network, which also makes accessible patient data such as medication and allergy history that are critical to optimal care delivery. The current focus is on providing laboratories with connectivity via HealthShare. With a lab that is part of Northeast Health going live first, there are now three laboratory feeds representing four hospitals that are channeling results, including microbiology, pathology and blood bank results, into the HIE network.
Commitment, Expertise Spell Success
"HIE implementation is still a relatively immature market and transitioning from a legacy platform to InterSystems HealthShare while preserving all of the network-based data certainly presented some challenges," Bizzarro said. "Our vendor organization had to be very flexible and committed, and had to include some extremely competent people. The InterSystems team has been very responsive and fully dedicated to reaching our goals. We view this as a highly successful working partnership."
"InterSystems is focused on delivering the advanced software technologies our customers need to achieve their objectives," said Paul Grabscheid, InterSystems Vice President of Strategic Planning. "We are committed to providing a flexible, accessible, interoperable and highly secure platform for smooth exchange of clinical data among the health care providers that are part of the HIXNY network. And, we are very pleased to work with HIXNY as they pursue the overall objective of supporting optimal care delivery to the patients they serve."
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