Delivering real results.

HEALTHeLINK’s clinical results delivery service (e.g., lab test results, radiology reports) enables practices and care coordination networks to easily receive clinical results for their patients directly into their electronic health records (EHRs) from other linked sources. This functionality enhances the ability to conduct pre-visit planning and reduces redundant tests, as information is immediately available for better medical decision-making.

Sending alert notifications in real time.

Our alert notifications deliver real-time updates to providers and care coordination networks regarding their patients’ hospital admissions, discharges, and transfers, including local emergency department visits. Immediate access to this information results in less time spent manually searching multiple systems for patient information, improved follow-up, avoidance of readmissions, and more frequent at-home care for patients.

Streamlining care with patient encounter data.

To more easily and securely share consented patients’ medical information with other providers involved in their care, HEALTHeLINK enables the delivery of patient encounter data from a doctor’s EHR. Hundreds of practices are sharing data by sending continuity of care documents (CCDs). This helps practices treating shared patients spend less time searching for patient information, allowing for more efficient data gathering for population health reporting – resulting in higher quality patient visits.

More efficient patient medical record lookup.

With patient record lookup, participating providers can instantly access a consented patient’s clinical record, obtaining information, such as lab tests, radiology reports, medication history, and other relevant health information, that is crucial for care management. Armed with this updated information in real time, providers can more easily conduct pre-visit planning, avoid repeat tests, and make better medical decisions.

Helping to drive enhanced
health information exchange (HIE) adoption.

The Data Exchange Incentive Program (DEIP) was established by the New York State Department of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to increase HIE adoption across the state for Medicaid providers, including meaningful use–attested physician practices, long-term care providers, diagnostic and treatment centers, and behavioral health providers. The program is designed to help defray the cost of connecting to a local HIE, and organizations are incentivized for participating and contributing specific information to the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY). HEALTHeLINK facilitates both the enrollment and attestation processes for WNY practices, which to date have received approximately $1.4 million through DEIP. The result? Of the enrolled practices, 16% are in WNY and nearly 20% of the total statewide program spend has been in the WNY area.

Developing data quality reports.

The quality of patient information accessed via HEALTHeLINK depends on the quality and completeness of the information received from our data sources. HEALTHeLINK first developed data quality reports in 2018, focusing initially on the data coming into the exchange on CCDs. Since then, our reporting portfolio has expanded with the addition of rule sets to evaluate data completeness and quality to support value-based care programs such as Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) and patient-centered medical home (PCMH) programs. Additionally, we work with our physician practice data sources to provide the local payers with clinical information, reducing medical record chart reviews for the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS). We have also developed a set of rules to evaluate this data.

Completing New York State Department of Health recertification.

HEALTHeLINK completed the annual NYS DOH Qualified Entity (QE) recertification, once again passing without any compliance gaps. HEALTHeLINK continues to use the certification process to ensure patient data is securely managed through technology and procedural controls.

HEALTHeLINK continues to connect with the other QEs across New York State through SHIN-NY. With this connection, participating providers can securely access medical information on their consented patients who may have received care elsewhere in the state.

National alert capability.

HEALTHeLINK has gone live with the patient-centered data home (PCDH) national network and is now able to send alerts to WNY providers who have patients treated outside New York State. PCDH is an initiative of SHIEC, which is a national trade organization that includes more than 70 health information exchanges. These alert notifications enable providers to initiate additional data exchanges and access real-time information on their patients from other participating HIEs across the country. Once patients return home to WNY, their treating providers have a more complete picture of the care they received while away, resulting in timelier follow-up care and reduced duplicate testing.