SEFCU Becomes Hixny’s First Business Member
Albany, NY (PRWEB) January 22, 2014 -- Hixny announces SEFCU as its first business member of the non-profit healthcare community collaborative. To-date the vast majority of members and participants of Hixny are health plans, hospitals, physician practices and specialists.
With the signing of SEFCU as a new member, Hixny is expanding its employer class within the organization. The employer class was established in 2009 when the Center for Economic Growth (CEG) became the first business association to join Hixny. In recent years, Hixny has worked closely with CEG President F. Michael Tucker to gain a better understanding of the needs and perceptions of the business community as it relates to striving for healthier employees and lowering healthcare costs.
“This announcement is part of the evolution of Hixny,” said Mark McKinney, CEO of Hixny. “In recent years we have worked tirelessly to increase the number of clinical members and participants, which is increasing the amount of electronic health records being accessed in our Health Information Exchange (HIE). With the increased collaboration of our healthcare community, we are now poised to reach out to businesses in our region, which are witnessing a clear value of becoming Hixny members.” A goal for Hixny in 2014 will be to add additional regional businesses to its employer class.
“The number two expense for employers is health care costs, second only to salaries,” said F. Michael Tucker, President of CEG and former Hixny Board of Director. “CEG is a member of Hixny because we want to be on the forefront of identifying solutions to help reducing these costs in our region, which we hope will assist us in attracting businesses to Tech Valley.” Tucker had served Hixny’s Board of Directors for four years. His term expired in 2013 and Barbara Hess, Chief Administrative Officer at SEFCU has been elected to represent the employer class.
“I am very excited to be part of the Hixny Board,” said Hess. “Collaboration is the heart of Hixny’s mission and the organization’s vision and goals align well with SEFCU’s commitment to workforce and community health and wellness and I look forward to working with them to advance our collective vision.”
“SEFCU shares our mission of better coordination of care and reducing healthcare costs in our community,” adds McKinney. “We are looking for the right companies, like SEFCU, which are committed to improving the health, of not only their employees but, of the greater community as well.” Hixny is currently working with other regional businesses who are interested in becoming members.
When compared to national and statewide figures of the number of providers who are connected to an HIE and providing data, Hixny is a leader. The national average of providers connected is 2%, throughout the Empire State that number is 10% and in Hixny’s region, more than 62% of all providers are connected and providing data to the HIE.
Hixny (“hix-knee”) is a Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) which serves 1.55 million people in a 17 County area in the 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.
Established in 1934, today SEFCU is among the 50 largest credit unions in the U.S. with more than $2.7 billion in assets, nearly 300,000 members, and 46 branches in the Capital Region, Binghamton, Syracuse, and Buffalo. In addition to full service retail and commercial banking products and services, SEFCU is committed to supporting the community through the donation of time and talent of its staff and members, as well as monetary contributions to help people and make an impact in the communities it serves. Find us on Facebook® and follow us on Twitter®.
Eric Wohlleber, Hixny, http://www.hixny.org, +1 518 783-0518 Ext: 27, [email protected]
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