Third Quarter, 2023

As we approached our thirteenth year of operations providing actionable health information exchange (HIE) services for over 1,600 organizations across New York state, we developed a vision for the future. We’ve learned that each participating and partnering organization has unique information needs which require increased data dexterity and flexibility. These information needs will continue to become more diverse, and our focus is extending beyond clinical data to include social needs data, claims data and other sources of data which are needed to provide optimal care and improve health. We will continue to see increased collaboration and data sharing with the New York State Department of Health, county health departments, and partner HIEs. We are also collaborating with some of the New York State HIEs on opportunities for shared infrastructure, shared services and shared data.

We have begun implementation on new, advanced technology to realize the vision and continue delivering the advanced solutions and data services you expect. Our plans are focused on a launch toward the summer of 2024, and we will keep you informed of our plans and progress.

Community-wide health information exchange (HIE) data offers unique opportunities to inform, support, and promote initiatives aimed at improving health in our communities. HealtheConnections has partnered with Lantana Consulting Group to investigate public health use cases for HIE data. A strategic partnership with Lantana is a natural fit, given their focus on helping healthcare providers, government providers and insurance providers with information exchange and health data management

Our work explores how HIEs can support public health surveillance by making healthcare data more easily reportable and more complete. The most recent analytic projects focused on two public health use cases for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). Since NHSN relies heavily on data reported by healthcare partners to maintain a national healthcare-associated infection tracking system, it was an ideal opportunity to demonstrate the value of HIE data.

For additional information on both use cases and to access the complete article, please click the link below.

An Active Search for Pilot Partners: Understanding the Use of Social Determinants of Health Screening Tools

Collaborations with the NYS Department of Health Showcase the Value of HIE Data

At the end of September, HealtheConnections will complete its fifth and final year of activities supported by New York State's Innovative Chronic Disease grant, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The overall goal of the CDC grant was to develop and test new approaches to address evidence-based strategies aimed at reducing the risks, complications, and barriers to the prevention and control of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in high-burden populations.

HealtheConnections was one of three QEs that worked closely with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) to demonstrate the value of health information exchanges developing population-level prevalence estimates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, creating clinical registries and hosting chronic disease referral platforms. Together we developed standards for the measures and shared best practices.

HealtheConnections successfully completed a project to assess whether HIE data could be used to create a Regional Colonoscopy Registry with funding from the NYSDOH and Health Research Incorporated. A colonoscopy registry could help providers quickly review a patient’s history of colonoscopy and assess eligibility.

Our findings demonstrated valuable insights into the strengths and limitations of colonoscopy data within our HIE. While the data we have are clearly useful for this purpose, further collaboration with healthcare providers could improve the completeness of the data we receive. Our state partners found the project worthwhile in identifying areas for improvement and understanding the full potential of our data.

HealtheConnections is committed to ensuring that all authorized users, including those with disabilities, can successfully use our systems. Accessibility is a critical aspect of providing high-quality tools and services, and we, alongside our state partners, are actively improving our systems to meet Section 508 compliance criteria.

Section 508 outlines a set of standards to make electronic information and technology accessible to individuals with disabilities. This means that our interfaces will be designed to accommodate individuals with visual, auditory, and physical impairments, among others. We’ve kicked off a comprehensive multi-year plan to begin updating our publicly available content and tools to align with these standards.

Want to learn more about what 508 standards are? You can read through this guide put together by the U.S Department of Health & Human Services.

Our HIE users have come to expect a high level of performance from our systems and services, with a focus on continuous improvement and optimization. Now, we're kicking off a new initiative to advance our system further through a data-centric mentality and new infrastructure model that will take us through 2024 and beyond.

Health information needs are constantly evolving and serve diverse purposes, and our core services must offer the flexibility required to meet those emerging needs. The vision of data centricity is simple: By looking at data as the core asset independent of a single application or service, we'll build a new infrastructure that will leverage the most up-to-date technology and increase the efficiency and adaptability of the tools we provide.

Our teams are actively engaged with development partners to refine and execute this vision. It's taking shape, and we are excited to keep you informed over the coming months.

240,000

image studies received

per month

11M

clinical alerts exchanged

per month

4.8M

clinical summary documents received

per month

500,000

unique patients accessed per month

430,000

results delivered

per month

Questions? Comments? Feedback? We want to hear from you! Simply reply to this email or send a message to info@healtheconnections.org.