HealthlinkNY, a new health information exchange, was announced Monday as the result of two existing New York regional exchanges merging. The union comes as New York attempts to create a statewide health information network, claiming to be the first state in the country to do so.
HealthlinkNY will cover 11 counties across the Southern Tier, Catskills and Hudson Valley regions of New York, and is intended to give providers a centralized location to access patients' complete medical records. The Southern Tier is the region of New York directly north of its border with Pennsylvania and west of the Catskill Mountains.
The HIE will allow for the updating of patient records in real time, said Christina Galanis, executive director of Southern Tier HealthLink, one of the two merged HIEs. Taconic Health Information Network and Community (THINC) is the other.
The new organization's board will blend representatives from each of the two regional HIEs. It will receive funding from the CMS as well as New York and local sources. Officials with the entity are also touting its abilities to complement local alternative payment projects.
“New Yorkers will see their healthcare improve as a direct result of this important union between THINC and STHL,” Susan Stuard, executive director of Taconic, said in a news release. “By joining forces, we will be able broaden our current services for patients and doctors, and expand our policy work.”
The merger is subject to review and approval by the New York attorney general's office and the state's supreme court.
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