Bassett Healthcare Network Connects to Hixny
ALBANY, NEW YORK (PRWEB) October 31, 2014 -- Bassett Healthcare Network has joined Hixny, a Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) serving more than 1.6 million customers in the Greater Capital Region and Northern New York. As a member of Hixny, Bassett Healthcare Network’s six hospitals are now connected to Hixny’s Health Information Exchange (HIE), which allows the secure sharing of medical information, with patient consent, across a diverse group of health care organizations, including hospitals, physician practices, health plans and health care associations.
With this newest connection all six hospitals in the Bassett Healthcare Network will be connected with Hixny’s HIE, along with the network’s home care agency, At Home Care. This represents secure electronic medical records for more than 700,000 office visits, on average, each year in the eight county area the Bassett Healthcare Network serves. The electronic medical records can be safely and securely shared, with patient consent, within Hixny’s robust HIE.
“By connecting Bassett Healthcare Networks and Hixny, the hundreds of thousands of patients who visit the many Bassett locations will now have the ability to securely share electronic health records throughout our region, and soon, across the State,” said Mark McKinney, CEO at Hixny. “Bassett’s patients now have the ability to provide their consent so their providers can quickly and securely access the electronic medical records, to save time and better coordinate their care.”
Hixny is one of ten non-profit, RHIO’s in the state. Among other programs and services offered, Hixny securely operates a robust eHealth Exchange, which with positive patient consent, allows healthcare professional to access electronic medical records to improve coordination of care. All RHIO’s in the Empire State will be connecting to the Statewide Health Information Network – New York (SHIN-NY). When these connections are complete, all New Yorkers will be able, with patient consent, to securely share electronic records throughout the state.
“The role of Hixny and other RHIOs is important to advancing high quality health care and patient safety,” noted Bassett’s President and CEO Vance Brown, M.D. “The Bassett network has had an enterprise wide electronic health record that gives our providers access to their patients’ most up to date medical information in real time. But there wasn’t a way for patients’ medical data, to securely follow them outside of our network. That’s a gap Hixny is helping to fill.”
With the Bassett Healthcare Network on board, Hixny is now connected with 39% of all providers in Delaware County and 39% of all providers in Herkimer County. “In our region, on average, a patient visits with more than three healthcare providers,” added McKinney. “Now patients have the ability to provide their healthcare professionals with immediate and secure access to their electronic medical records from other office visits.”
This new connection allows healthcare professionals in the Bassett Network to securely send a variety of medical records including: medications, lab results, image reports, emergency department results, and discharge summaries, among many others. All of the hospitals in the Bassett Healthcare Network are currently connected with the exception of A.O. Fox, which is expected to be online with Hixny in the coming weeks.
Hixny (“hix-knee”) is a Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) which serves 1.6 million people in the greater Capital District and Northern New York. 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.
Bassett Healthcare Network is an integrated health care system that provides care and services to people living in an eight county, 5,600 square mile region in upstate New York. The organization includes six corporately affiliated hospitals, as well as skilled nursing facilities, health centers and health partners in related fields.
Bassett Medical Center, the foundation of the network, is a 180-bed acute care inpatient teaching facility in Cooperstown, New York employing 3,000 people. The medical center offers a broad range of specialty care and maintains a strong academic program through its affiliation with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Bassett was formally established as a medical school campus of Columbia P & S in 2009. Learn more by visiting http://www.bassett.org.
Eric Wohlleber, Hixny, http://www.hixny.org, +1 518 783-0518 Ext: 27, [email protected]
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