The New York State Health Department joined with Healthix, the Brooklyn Health Home and Oscar to provide an update on the development of New York’s new EHR system, the Statewide Health Information Network of New York (SHIN-NY). To demonstrate how the SHIN-NY operates on a regional level, the group highlighted Healthix’s patient alert system, which allows care managers to receive real-time alerts when their patients are admitted to or discharged from a hospital, helping to improve care coordination and reduce avoidable hospital re-admissions. Healthix, the largest of the nine Qualified Entities that comprise the SHIN-NY, already facilitates health information exchange for 10 million patients across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island.
Earlier this year, the New York State legislature voted to appropriate $55MM to support the development of the SHIN-NY — a “network of networks.” The SHIN-NY will enable doctors and patients to securely access their electronic health records no matter where they live or work in the state. Access to critical health information will improve the quality of care and help reduce unnecessary hospital re-admissions, a key driver of healthcare expenditures in New York.
Healthix Patient Alert System Overview
Healthix’s patient alert system, also known as Clinical Event Notifications, triggers over 5,000 monthly real-time updates to case managers about their high-risk patients, allowing them to better navigate crisis situations and develop comprehensive health care plans to further their care in the future.
“We at Healthix are gratified to be able to deliver tools designed to support providers, assist care managers and help coordinate the care of patients, many of whom struggle with multiple co-morbidities and other complex conditions,” said Tom Check, CEO of Healthix. “With a growing number of participating clinical, behavioral health and social service providers, as well as health plans, Healthix provides secure access to current patient information wherever and whenever it’s needed.”
The Brooklyn Health Home (BHH) coordinates care for over 8,000 at-risk patients across the borough of Brooklyn, and has utilized Healthix’s clinical event notifications with successful results. By using the system, the Health Home’s community-based care managers have been able to expeditiously respond to their patients’ urgent care needs, including visits to emergency rooms and hospital admissions. For example, care managers can bring critical information about patients to hospital staff in real-time, and communicate with patients’ providers in the community to collaborate on care plans that will prevent avoidable hospital visits in the future.
BHH has also implemented protocols that are triggered once a care manager receives an alert. For example, care managers must visit hospitalized patients within two business days, and conduct case conferences with the clinical team. In the third quarter of 2014, Brooklyn Health Home care managers received over 1,300 clinical event notifications from Healthix, and timely responses to these alerts increased by 10% from February – September of 2014.
“Real-time communication and collaboration with a patient’s care team, especially around critical events like ER visits and hospital stays, is the fundamental core of our program,” said Dr. Karen Nelson, Executive Director of the Brooklyn Health Home and Senior Vice President of Integrated Delivery Systems at Maimonides Medical Center. “The Healthix alerts, which are integrated in our care coordination IT platform, are the key drivers that facilitate understanding the root causes of acute care utilization and developing care plans to keep individuals well, in their communities, and accessing appropriate care and services.”
How Oscar Is Utilizing Clinical Event Notifications
Oscar, the innovative health insurance company representing 17,000 members in New York, has also utilized Healthix’s Clinical Event Notifications for over six months. Thanks to the system, Oscar’s medical team has engaged 80% of their members who generated a Healthix notification on a variety of urgent healthcare issues. Healthix’s system notified Oscar’s medical team of 66 Emergency Room visits and hospital admissions in the past six weeks alone, allowing Oscar’s nurses to provide appropriate care management services, including: care coordination with the Hospital Discharge Planner about post- acute services, arranging and authorizing outpatient rehabilitation and delivery and authorization of medical equipment and supplies.
“Healthix Clinical Event Notifications have enabled Oscar to support our members through new, meaningful interactions with care,” said Oscar co-founder and co-CEO Mario Schlosser. “The CEN process has had a significant effect on improving both the velocity and effectiveness of Case Management and Care Coordination at Oscar. Through this partnership our in-house team of doctors and nurses are able to supplement their knowledge of member health and in turn continue to provide simple, intuitive, health care for all.”
Provider Adoption
In addition to the Brooklyn Health Home and Oscar, a growing number of healthcare organizations are utilizing Healthix’s alert system, including: NYU Langone Medical Center, Mount Sinai Health System, North Shore-LIJ Health System, Lutheran Medical Center, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, Federation Employment and Guidance Service, Inc. (FEGS), ProHEALTH Care Associates LLP, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and others.
Currently, patient health data in Healthix is accessible only to healthcare providers within New York City and Long Island. But in 2015 the SHIN-NY will expand Healthix’s reach by connecting healthcare providers and case managers to critical patient health information no matter where they are located in the state, with patient consent. For example, if a patient from New York City needed emergency care while visiting Albany, the SHIN-NY would give the treating physician instant access to that patient’s records in order to provide effective treatment. For patients who live in areas that border several other regions such as the Hudson Valley, the SHIN-NY, will make it easier for all of their providers to access and share the patient’s health records seamlessly.
In addition to improving the quality of care and improving patient safety, creating a statewide network is expected to save hundreds of millions across the state through reduced re-admissions and eliminating redundant tests. For more information about the SHIN-NY, please visit www.nyehealth.org.