Well, Informed Communication: Theme of Hixny Connects 2014
Albany (PRWEB) December 10, 2014 -- Healthcare professionals, business leaders, government officials and community advocates gathered for Hixny Connects 2014 on Dec. 9, to receive an update on the regional health information organization and hear from Jacob Reider, MD.
Hixny provides patients and clinicians with real-time electronic access to patients’ comprehensive medical history for making timely, informed care decisions. Its region includes more than 1.7 million patients in the Capital District, Northern New York and the Mohawk Valley. The annual meeting and networking event was held at Franklin Plaza in Troy, N.Y.
The keynote address, entitled “Health 3.0: Volume to Value & Technology’s Role,” was Dr. Reider’s first public appearance since returning to the Capital District after serving three years at the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Dr. Reider served on Hixny’s founding board in 2006 and 2007, while he was Medical Director of Clinical Systems at CapitalCare Medical Group.
Dr. Reider spoke about the importance of innovation in Health IT and stressed that perfection must be the target and the patient must be the focal point. “The most important part of it is the why,” said Reider. “Why are we doing Health IT? Why are we talking about the tools and all the technical things? Well, this is why—at least it’s my why. We are trying to work from volume to value. Better care, better health, lower costs. That is the Triple Aim. You can’t do it without Health IT. This is the challenge.”
Mark McKinney, CEO of Hixny, delivered an update on Hixny’s progress, as one of the most successful RHIOs in the country, and shared some plans for the coming year. He said 2014 was a year of transformation for Hixny, one in which it the organization became accredited as a Trusted Agent for HISP Direct Messaging from DirectTrust.org and the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission, and turned its attention to solving problems of population health.
“In 2015 we are going to spend a lot of time focused on building out components that we have started to provide as part of our population health initiative of 2014,” McKinney said. “This means leveraging our secure platform, which is highly customizable and flexible for analytics. With this construction we will have the ability to implement program definition and outcomes measurement, two key components of accountable care programs. With Hixny’s tool set, we now have the ability to allow providers to access patient information anytime, anyplace, and anywhere. This leads to well, informed communication,” said McKinney.
Hixny Connects attendees also heard from Dr. John Bennett, President and CEO of CDPHP and chairman of Hixny’s Board of Directors. The Event Sponsors were InterSystems Corporation, Iseman, Cunningham, Riester, & Hyde LLP and KeyBank.
Hixny (“hix-knee”) is a Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) which serves 1.7 million people in the Capital District, Northern New York and the Mohawk Valley. Hixny connects providers, patients and organizations to better coordinate care and reduce healthcare costs across our community. Hixny’s programs and services give patients and clinicians real-time electronic access to patients’ comprehensive medical history for making timely, informed care decisions. As a not-for-profit, Hixny collaborates with health plans, hospitals, physician practices, employers, government agencies, patients and others in its region who share the common vision and goal of substantially transforming healthcare and improving population health. To learn more about Hixny, visit http://www.hixny.org.
Eric Wohlleber, Hixny, http://www.hixny.org, +1 518 783-0518 Ext: 27, [email protected]
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