Learn More About HEALTHeLINK

HEALTHeLINK serves as a resource for broad health system transformation through secure data-informed decision making for individual patient care and to support community investments with a purpose of improving health, health care, and collaboration with local health care providers and those who are connected via the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY) to improve health outcomes and health care delivery, control costs, increase access to care, and improve health equity in Western New York. 

HEALTHeLINK was created to improve the quality and delivery of care through the secure electronic exchange of clinical information. Broader, quicker, and secure access to medical information translates into better clinical outcomes, improved efficiency, and overall improved safety for the Western New York health care consumer.

HEALTHeLINK seamlessly creates a network among providers in the health care community to improve the quality of care for their patients. Through HEALTHeLINK, providers have secure access to the most current information on their consented patients all in one place. This process enables more informed decisions on the patient’s behalf and has the potential to help address unnecessary health care costs, i.e., duplication of the same test by different doctors.

HEALTHeLINK is a network that allows for the secure sharing of patient health information between providers such as a primary care physician’s office and a hospital emergency room. An EHR is a computer-based digital record securely stored on a computer and software system that contains your health information. HEALTHeLINK enables the information contained in an EHR to be shared with your other treating providers.

HIPAA and New York State rules protecting privacy and control of medical information will remain the same. The patient holds the key for their health care providers to access their medical information via HEALTHeLINK.  For a patient’s health information to be accessed by their treating providers, a patient needs to sign a consent form. Review the HEALTHeLINK Patient Consent Form Instructions.

The patient holds the key for their health care providers to access their medical information via HEALTHeLINK.  For a patient’s health information to be accessed by their treating providers, a patient needs to sign a consent form. Review the HEALTHeLINK Patient Consent Form Instructions.

HEALTHeLINK takes the responsibility of the protection and security of patient health information very seriously and it remains among our highest priorities. HEALTHeLINK uses state-of-the-art security features that include multiple levels of password protection to ensure authorized user access and that patient health information is kept private and confidential. As new security technologies are developed, we continue to enhance our efforts to keep patient health information as secure as possible, including using sophisticated encryption when health data is sent via email.

Having successfully built the health information exchange infrastructure, HEALTHeLINK is collaborating with a regional network of community-based organizations and community health champions to further expand the utilization of data to inform, support, and promote strategies to improve the health status of Western New Yorkers. Having this data will also help to reduce health disparities and enhance the delivery of health care services among participating providers.