NY HIE gets Direct messaging

Clinician-to-clinician Direct messaging is now available across New York as part of the Statewide Health Information Network of New York, or SHIN-NY.

Albany Medical Center, a trauma center in upstate New York, will be the state’s first provider using the Direct service, which integrates into providers’ EHR systems. Vendor certification for Direct messaging will begin this spring through the Interoperability Workgroup led by the New York eHealth Collaborative, which oversees SHIN-NY.

For Albany Medical Center, the Direct service is being powered by the Healthcare Information Xchange of New York (HIXNY), which serves as greater Albany and northern New York’s regional HIE.

National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari, MD, said in a media release that the SHIN-NY Direct service is “a critical component for eligible providers to achieve Stage 2 Meaningful Use in New York while enabling a simple point-to-point exchange of patient health data.”