It’s been an elusive goal for decades, an online system allowing doctors to quickly access a patient’s entire health history. The goal is to make finding patients’ records easier and cut down on unnecessary treatments. Health Reporter takes a look at the massive project soon to go online in New York and filed the following report.
On July 1 the state will begin stitching together a statewide electronic health records system called the SHIN-NY – short for Statewide Health Information Network of New York. It’s a multi-step process starting with the nearly decades’ long work of building regional networks.
“Those eight different regions have been actively working with all the health care providers in their community to try to get them connected, sharing data, and they’ve established nonprofit corporations with board of directors and policies,” explains David Whitlinger, Executive Director of the New York eHealth Collaborative.