Learn more about the expansion of HEALTHeLINK’S population health services, support to community providers with value-based payment initiatives, and overall improvements of quality of care. HEALTHeLINK’S robust population health data warehouse combines clinical data from community data contributors and claims data from regional managed care organizations. Access to this data allows the HEALTHeLINK team to collaborate with your organization to help identify barriers impacting performance, customize reporting to meet needs of various contracts or initiatives, streamline workflows, and provide expertise in practice transformation.

To register for our upcoming webinar on September 28 from 12 – 1 p.m., click here.

For more information about HEALTHeLINK's services, click here. Please direct any questions to businessdevelopment@wnyhealthelink.com. 

As part of the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY), HEALTHeLINK will be participating in the SHIN-NY’s annual Customer Satisfaction and Usage Survey this fall. The New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC), at the direction of the SHIN-NY, oversees distribution of the survey through a third-party, non-partisan organization: NORC at the University of Chicago.

HEALTHeLINK encourages all our participants to respond to this survey, which began September 13, 2022. This survey asks about a participant’s use of HEALTHeLINK services in the delivery of care, as well as satisfaction with those services. Results from the survey are anonymous and will be used to improve the health information exchange services provided by HEALTHeLINK.

If you have further questions, please contact the NORC at the University of Chicago survey team at SHIN-NY@norc.org or call them at 800-975-2754. Any questions for HEALTHeLINK can be directed to Patti Burandt at pburandt@wnyhealthelink.com or by calling 716-206-0993 ext. 322.

HEALTHeLINK announced the addition of three new directors to its board. Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, vice president of health sciences and dean, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo; Michael Mineo, MD, FACEP, MMM, executive vice president and chief medical officer, Kaleida Health; and Pastor George F. Nicholas, chair, Buffalo Center for Health Equity, were each elected to three-year terms. Current board member Michael J. Edbauer, DO, MBA, president, Highmark Western and Northeastern New York was also named to the executive committee. Congratulations, and welcome to the HEALTHeLINK team!

If your organization encounters a cyber incident, having a plan of action is critical to restoring operations. HEALTHeLINK’s mission to “create and maintain a secure and reliable infrastructure for the timely and accurate electronic exchange of clinical information among health care providers” helps participating organizations in accessing patient information even if they are not able to access their systems.

While your organization is updating or creating your business continuity plan, keep HEALTHeLINK in mind so that we can assist in keeping your operations running via the HEALTHeCOMMUNITY Portal. In addition, assure that there is consideration to notify HEALTHeLINK in the event of an incident. All participants are required to promptly notify HEALTHeLINK of any known or suspected security incidents per our Privacy and Security Policies and Procedures (P06 § 3.1 Reporting Requirements & SP-001 § 3.5 Incident Reporting). By reporting a potential incident to HEALTHeLINK, we will be able to assist in the continuity of obtaining patient information while also pausing any data feeds to assure that there is no malicious traffic that may flow into the HEALTHeLINK environment.

Reminder that starting on December 15, users will no longer be able to access the HEALTHeCOMMUNITY Portal using Internet Explorer. Please note that this date may move as we monitor security risks during this timeframe. We are encouraging organizations to move to a supported version of Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox, or Safari. For further information, please see the following from Microsoft: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/faq/internet-explorer-microsoft-edge

HEALTHeLINK began receiving CCDs from Wellnow Urgent Care via HealtheConnections in August. 

HEALTHeLINK recently announced the promotion of Jennifer Lane, PMP/CSM to director, project management. With the organization since 2015, Lane was most recently senior manager, project management office. In this new role, Lane guides the Project Management Office and together with colleagues across the organization, successfully implements a variety of projects from new and improved platforms to research and regulatory initiatives. Congratulations, Jennifer! 

HEALTHeLINK Executive Director Dan Porreca participated in two panel discussions at last month’s Civitas Networks for Health Annual Conference. Dan spoke on the topics of empowering patients with data to improve health equity and how HIE coupled with CPC+ can help physicians deliver better care at a lower cost. 

HEALTHeLINK’s Guide 2 Better Care segments are back on WGRZ for 2022. Every other Wednesday, during the 4pm and 11pm newscasts, local health care leaders provide education about HEALTHeLINK as well as highlight the value and benefits of HIE in Western New York. To view all the segments, click here.

Dr. Thomas Schenk also appeared on WGRZ’s WNY Living to share details about HEALTHeLINK and Population Health Collaborative’s new collaboration.

In Good Health – Q&A with Dan Porreca