HIE agreement allows exchange of 5.4M patient records in N.Y.

A new agreement between four upstate New York Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIO) allows for the secure exchange of electronic medical records amongst Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany healthcare professionals. In total, the agreement allows providers to securely share 5.4 million patient health records among 110 hospitals in a 44-county region.

Specifically, the new connectivity will allow providers to send and receive EMRs via each RHIO’s Health Information Service Provider (HISP) capability based upon the Direct Project protocol. 

All four RHIOs lauded the agreement in a release.

“We are pleased to offer central New York participating providers the ability to securely share health information with Buffalo, Rochester and Albany regional providers. This extends HealtheConnections’ network of care for patients across upstate New York,” said Rob Hack, executive director, HealtheConnections.

“As western New Yorkers may find themselves seeking medical care in other parts of the state, this collaboration among the upstate RHIOs provides the ability for their medical data to follow them to those regions and assures that it is securely available when it’s needed most – at the point of care,” said Dan Porreca, executive director, HEALTHeLINK, in the release.