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New York’s SHIN-NY pilots statewide alerts to advance interoperability
The encounter notifications are the first in series of planned initiatives toward creating a cohesive data-sharing network.
The Statewide Health Information Network for New York is piloting a service that delivers real-time notifications for emergency visits, hospital admissions, transfers and discharges across every region of the state. Leaders say the initiative is designed to eliminate blind spots and strengthen care coordination across traditional regional silos. The pilot is the first of several initiatives to transform the SHIN-NY into a unified statewide network.
A statewide network left providers digging through data
The push for seamless health data exchange in New York started in 2004 with the HEAL-NY Act and accelerated five years later with federal HITECH funding.
"New York was a relatively early adopter of federal interoperability incentive programs," said Alexandra Fitz, head of enterprise initiatives & partnerships at the New York eHealth Collaborative. "Those programs allowed regions to build their own health information exchange infrastructure."
These efforts, however, led to a patchwork of independent systems across the state. The SHIN-NY was formed in 2010 to connect those systems and enable statewide patient record-sharing.
The SHIN-NY enabled data exchange between Qualified Entities in a statewide hub, but providers often found that the data available was cumbersome to use. Information was typically returned as dense PDF-like documents that could not be easily integrated into EHR systems or workflows.
To access usable patient data, many organizations chose to connect directly with multiple QEs. Originally 14, these QEs have since consolidated to six — each with varying structures.
"Each [QE] grew up as its own organization. There are different legal agreements and processes that govern the way participants engage and access data and services," said Fitz. This has led to redundant integrations, inconsistent workflows and ongoing provider frustration.
"Providers would just be inundated with alerts — often duplicative," Fitz said. "It made information that should support clinical decisions ... not very helpful."
Fixing fragmented data sharing
Now, according to Fitz, the SHIN-NY has undergone a strategic planning process focused on moving from a patchwork of regional systems into a cohesive platform. A central goal of this effort is to make services available statewide.
"We're reducing redundancy so that we're not offering the same types of services six times over," she said. This initiative also includes the implementation of a standardized statewide participation agreement, replacing the varied legal and technical requirements that differed between networks.
Statewide encounter alerts are the start of multiple initiatives toward these goals. Fitz said that two QEs — HealtheConnections and Hixny — have been identified to provide the hospital encounter alerts through a statewide service contract.
"We are looking to have organizations invest in expertise and development in specific areas," said Fitz. "The goal is to have participants recognize that these are SHIN-NY services, not per-network services."
In that vein, the alerts will be available to all participants who subscribe, regardless of which QE they are connected through. According to Fitz, all existing participants of Hixny and HealtheConnections can currently use the alerts, with consistent onboarding of more users over the next few months.
Participants will choose which QE to get the alerts through. Both offer solutions that fit into existing workflows.
"They are fully configurable and can be embedded and directly integrated into the EHR workflow, emailed, etc.," said Fitz.
Data isn't yet available regarding the impact of the pilot, but Fitz reports positive feedback so far. "All signs suggest it is going great," she said.
What's next for SHIN-NY participants?
While specific launch dates have not been set for future initiatives, participants can expect future projects to bring further cohesion and usability to SHIN-NY services. The goal of these plans, according to Fitz, is to create "unified statewide data, more consistency in services, more compatible and complementary services to major EHRs and national networks."
As the network continues to mature and improve its utility, interest in joining is expected to grow. Currently, the SHIN-NY includes all hospitals in the state, along with around 100,000 other healthcare professionals.
"We have roughly 80% of long-term post-acute care provider organizations, well over half of physician practices and roughly 80% of clinics around the state. Additional connections are made daily," said Fitz.
Elizabeth Stricker, BSN, RN, comes from a nursing and healthcare leadership background, and covers health technology and leadership trends for B2B audiences.
