Guide 2 Better Care with WGRZ-TV

Lisa Schulze, Chief Operating Officer, Buffalo Medical Group.

At Buffalo Medical Group, we believe in providing coordinated and compassionate care that puts the patient at the center of what we do. The ability to do this proactively has been enhanced through our daily use of HEALTHeLINK.

Whether visiting a family doctor, seeing a specialist, or moving between care settings, HEALTHeLINK ensures that one’s most important health information is instantly available when it matters most.

Our providers can track metrics in real time to help identify care gaps and high-risk patients early. This enables proactive and preventive care that reduces costs and improves health outcomes.

HEALTHeLINK also allows for streamlined communications with providers outside of Buffalo Medical Group to offer more coordinated care for our shared patients.

With HEALTHeLINK as an integral part of our team, our providers can continue to deliver the best care possible for our patients.

Dennis Horrigan, Health Care Consultant

In my various healthcare roles and settings over the years, the one constant has been HEALTHeLINK.

Built on collaboration, HEALTHeLINK’s core focus remains on getting the right data to the point of care regardless of where a patient seeks treatment.

As health systems, provider organizations and health plans transition to a population health and value-based care model, HEALTHeLINK is a key partner in enabling the secure use of data for regional health improvement efforts.

This data can help providers and others to identify and understand chronic health issues, ensure proactive screenings, implement evidence-based interventions, and discover the impact the surrounding community may have on one’s physical health.

This is the direction where health care is headed – a deeper and more comprehensive look – to improve health outcomes and drive higher quality, more collaborative and effective care throughout our local communities. With the right data, providers can make better health care decisions

Lauren Bruckner, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Information Officer, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

To deliver coordinated care, all providers involved in a patient’s journey must have access to the same information.

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center utilizes HEALTHeLINK’s HEALTHeOUTCOMES. This tool offers providers a more complete picture of their patients’ health across care settings.

For example, to ensure continuity of care, Roswell providers can track their patients during transitions of care, regardless of which facility or emergency room they were seen.

We also utilize HEALTHeOUTCOMES on a broader scale to enhance care for entire communities. By integrating health data from across Western New York, we are better able to identify trends, monitor outcomes, and detect gaps in care, such as missed screenings or delayed treatments.

This capability allows our care teams to proactively reach out, offer more effective support to patients, and ensure that no one is overlooked.

It’s a powerful method for delivering smarter, more connected care throughout the region.

Michael W. Cropp, M.D., CEO, Independent Health

Maintaining excellent health requires more than just regular physician visits and medications.

Common conditions such as diabetes or prediabetes are best managed by a treatment program that includes proper nutrition and exercise with or without medication to help control blood sugar.

Unfortunately, many people with these conditions lack access to fresh, healthy foods and safe exercise venues or they can’t afford their prescriptions.

HEALTHeLINK provides physicians with the information needed to best treat their patients, including lab results of blood sugar testing, medication usage, and barriers to access fresh food and exercise.

By looking across the entire population and geography of Western New York, HEALTHeLINK can identify opportunities to improve access to care, medication, fresh food and exercise so more Western New York citizens can enjoy their very best health.

Jill Kaczor, Public Health Program Nurse, NYS Department of Health

The postpartum period can be a vulnerable time for birthing people and their babies, with a heightened risk of complications such as postpartum depression, infection, and other health issues. However, early follow-up can help to address health concerns to increase chances of successful breast feeding, identify post-partum complications, and therefore significantly reduce maternal and infant morbidity and mortality rates.

New York State Department of Health is collaborating with HEALTHeLINK, local public health departments, and hospitals to enhance maternal and infant health outcomes by ensuring timely follow-up care.

Through HEALTHeLINK, automated alerts are sent to local health departments when a person is discharged after giving birth.

Having this real-time information allows for immediate outreach and support ensuring new parents have access to essential services such as postnatal care, mental health support, breastfeeding guidance, and education on postpartum recovery.

It’s collaborations like this that help to bridge gaps in care and promote the well-being of all new parents and their babies.

Jessica Cox, President, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield

Having access to a patient’s full medical history at the point of care enables doctors to make faster diagnoses, deliver more effective treatments, and improve overall health outcomes.

This reinforces why continued collaboration within the health care community, along with the utilization of HEALTHeLINK is so important when it comes to data sharing.

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield was the first local health plan to share health insurance claims data with HEALTHeLINK.

When combined with clinical data, it becomes a powerful tool for doctors to identify and address care gaps, such as overdue annual screenings or bloodwork.

With this resource, they can also strengthen care coordination and increase focus on preventative health for their patients.

By connecting doctors, hospitals, and other medical providers throughout our region, HEALTHeLINK is helping to drive better overall care and improve health outcomes for our entire community.

Dan Porreca, President & CEO, HEALTHeLINK

After nearly 20 years, HEALTHeLINK remains committed to providing value to our healthcare community with the information needed at the point of care to help them make better decisions. By working with our partners, we continue to add to that data to provide an even more robust platform.

In recent years, we’ve gone a step further with the expansion of our mission to include regional health improvement. We work with community organizations to ensure they have the data they need to address health challenges related to social conditions and population health through our HEALTHeWNY Dashboard. This data can be used to identify and understand chronic health issues facing specific populations and geographies.

But data alone doesn’t create value, it’s what’s done with the data to improve health outcomes for our community that really matters.

Our partners trust us and our work to advance emerging technologies to put the data to work is ongoing.

It’s this focus and collaboration that continues to drive HEALTHeLINK forward.

Dan Stapleton, Niagara County Public Health Director

When working in public health, we understand that each community has their own unique health care challenges and priorities.

Through our collaboration with HEALTHeLINK, the Niagara County Department of Health and other local health departments can promptly receive comprehensive data. This information gives us a snapshot of the current health of the communities that we serve.

Having this data available enables us to have a more detailed understanding of health trends and important health indicators such as pre-diabetes, asthma, and sexually transmitted infections within specific zip codes and demographics.

By having the most current medical information available, our staff can identify disparities and customize interventions accordingly. This enables us to effectively serve the health needs of our residents.

It’s crucial to ensure that we are deploying the right resources to the right communities to help improve overall health outcomes.

Kelley Clem, RN, MS, Vice President of Clinical Education and Patient Advocacy, Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo

Advance care planning gives you and your family the opportunity to plan for future medical care, should you become unable to make your own decisions. This can take time and should be made before a health care crisis occurs.

Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo collaborates with HEALTHeLINK to obtain clinical information on our patients.

Sometimes this information alone is not enough. Medical teams must also have access to advance directives to honor a patient’s wishes, especially at end-of-life. Too often these documents are not easily accessible, placing undo stress on your loved ones.

Meaningful conversations with loved ones and putting a plan into place are only part of the process. HEALTHeLINK is working towards making advance directives electronically available to your health care team, to help ensure your decisions are honored when you can no longer speak for yourself.

Elizabeth Woike-Ganga, LCSW-R, President & CEO, BestSelf Behavioral Health

As the largest community-based behavioral health provider in Western New York, BestSelf Behavioral Health serves more than 40,000 children, families and adults each year – helping our clients to be their best selves through accessible, holistic, comprehensive mental health and substance use disorder treatment, and recovery services.

HEALTH e LINK is a key partner in delivering this high-quality care. They help us collaborate with general practitioners, hospitals and other healthcare partners so we have a complete medical picture for our clients.

Having secure access to recent tests and medications or being alerted when a client is seen at the hospital can help us update the course of treatment if needed.

HEALTH e LINK data helps us personalize care, follow trends, and direct quality improvement efforts to ensure the best mental wellness services.

It is collaborations like the one between HEALTH e LINK and BestSelf that enhance and support the health of our entire community.

Thomas J. Quatroche Jr., Ph.D., President & CEO, Erie County Medical Center Corporation

As the only Level 1 Adult Trauma Center in our region, many of the patients we treat come through our Emergency Department.

Having access to patients’ current medical history is imperative in providing the most complete diagnosis, especially in the ER when seconds count.

That is why ECMC is such a strong partner and supporter of HEALTH e LINK.

Through HEALTHeLINK, our physicians and medical staff can securely and quickly access crucial clinical details about a patient, including current medications, recent test results, and more.

HEALTHeLINK makes it easier for our staff to obtain this information to provide high quality personalized care to our patients.

In turn, when a patient has been seen at ECMC, that information is also shared back to their primary care physicians and specialists for more coordinated health care.

This level of collaboration in an emergency setting provides care and saves lives.

Karen Craik, Senior Manager, Regional Health Improvement, HEALTHeLINK

Every day, HEALTH e LINK demonstrates the value of having the most current clinical information available at the point of care.

As we move into regional health improvement and build community relationships, we have developed a community health dashboard to provide insights into the health status of our region.

Known as HEALTHeWNY, this valuable tool provides necessary information to allow everyone, not just providers, the ability to identify and understand prevalent chronic health issues and preventative care. It can reveal patterns and trends of diseases and provide timely data to inform policy and evidence-based intervention. Having this information also highlights health disparities among different populations in addition to advancing community-based research.

HEALTHeWNY will help to track progress towards improving community health outcomes into the future. This new tool is just another way HEALTHeLINK is collaborating to build a healthier community for all of us.

Frank Cerny, Executive Director, Rural Outreach Center

At The Rural Outreach Center, we empower self-sufficiency among people living in rural poverty. This includes addressing social determinants of health and assisting with access to rural health care, which can be limited in both availability and geography.

As a result, rural communities often experience higher rates of chronic disease such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease as compared with metropolitan areas.

Therefore, it is critical to have one’s current health information to better utilize limited resources and to optimize care coordination.

HEALTHeLINK and its partners provide those data and helps organizations like The Rural Outreach Center identify areas that need interventions and the interventions that will have the greatest impact.

Health outreach in rural areas needs to be targeted to optimize the use of limited resources. HEALTHeLINK is helping to improve access to and enhance the quality of care needed for our rural populations.

Don Boyd, President & CEO, Kaleida Health

To have a viable community, we need a robust health care system.

HEALTHeLINK is a tremendous asset for patients navigating that system as it enables your medical information to travel with you and puts it right at your doctor’s fingertips.

As the region’s largest health care provider, here at Kaleida Health we treat patients from across Western New York from routine labs to cardiology, medical rehab, skilled nursing, maternity and emergency visits.

With HEALTHeLINK providing a comprehensive picture of your health from everywhere you receive care, our care givers utilize this information to better treat their patients. Likewise, clinical results from patient visits at Kaleida facilities are available to community providers.

By contributing to better, more efficient care, HEALTHeLINK is valued by our entire health care community.

Kelly Wofford, Director of Erie County Dept. of Health Office of Health Equity

When it comes to your health, your medical history is a small part of the overall picture. Not having access to transportation to a doctor’s visit, lacking access to healthy foods, unstable or unhealthy housing, and not being able to afford needed prescription medications are just a few examples of critical factors that need to be addressed when it comes to preventive care and managing chronic conditions.

We know how to significantly improve health outcomes for our entire population. It happens when the community focuses on understanding social determinants of health and how they directly impact one’s quality of life.

HEALTHeLINK is working with providers, public health and community resources to develop strategies to improve patient care, while at the same time confronting health equity and addressing social determinants of health.

Layering social determinants of health data with clinical data is necessary as we all work towards health equity in our community.

Dr. Michael Galang, Senior VP and Chief Information Officer, Catholic Health

Having reliable and up-to-date medical information is crucial for providing the highest quality care.

Thanks to Catholic Health’s ongoing collaboration with HEALTHeLINK, we can deliver timely data from our facilities to your treating physicians directly through their electronic health records.

Whether it’s alerting your physician that you were admitted to a Catholic Health hospital, sharing outpatient clinical notes, or electronically delivering cardiology reports or radiology images to your primary care provider, having this information at the point of care helps your providers take better care of you.

HEALTHeLINK can also deliver medical information from across the region to Catholic Health providers, ensuring that the team involved in your care has a more complete picture of your medical history.

This coordinated care improves access to vital information and, ultimately, the health of our entire community.

Dr. Lorna Fitzpatrick, Senior Medical Director, Univera Healthcare

As a board-certified pediatrician and pediatric oncologist, I know the importance of having all my patient’s medical information at my fingertips. Through HEALTHeLINK, I’m able to see my patients’ lab work, imaging, current medications, and physician notes, not only from my records, but also from any other physicians they may see. That gives me the whole picture, in real time, which can guide treatment and improve outcomes!

As Senior Medical Director for Univera Healthcare, I also know that our members are best served when they consent to HEALTHeLINK, because their doctors will have the same benefit I have with my patients. Whether being seen by a specialist or in an emergency department, HEALTH e LINK securely links all your medical records together for your physicians.

At your next medical visit, ask about having your information available to all your providers through HEALTHeLINK.

Dr. Kevin Watkins, Public Health Director, Cattaraugus County Health Dept.

Having access to current health data provides public health practitioners with critical data about specific population health needs. It also helps focus our attention on providing effective interventions and education at the right time, and in communities where it’s needed most.

In a rural setting, this also means understanding the overall health of our population, especially if residents receive treatment outside of our county.

Through our collaboration with HEALTHeLINK, we can obtain data for various diseases and demographics to help guide our programs.

For example, Cattaraugus County Health Department worked with HEALTH e LINK to determine the current prevalence of diabetes in our community. With the data they provided, we reappropriated resources to reach communities that were not initially planned.

Having this timely data to take needed action ultimately results in better health for our entire region.