NYeC sets SHIN-NY 2020 HIE roadmap, awards five leaders at gala

November 3, 2017 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/NYeC-Gala-2017.jpg” thumb_width=”200″ /]The New York eHealth Collaborative’s biennial Gala last Wednesday marked the formal debut of the Statewide Health Information Network for NY (SHIN-NY or ‘shiny’) 2020 Roadmap for development of the state’s Health Information Exchange (HIE). Before an audience of most of NY state’s healthcare organization leaders and key staff, new Executive Director Valerie Grey opened the evening with a topline of the SHIN-NY’s major goals in ensuring a robust HIE supporting value-based care, interoperability including innovations such as blockchain and natural language processing (NLP), public health advocacy, efficiency, and increased affordability. It extends NYeC’s founding goals of connecting providers and achieving the Triple Aim (improved patient experience, population health, at a lower per capita cost–which we don’t hear much about anymore). The full text of the Roadmap is available for download here.

NYeC recognized five healthcare leaders:

Transformative Leader: David Blumenthal, MD, President of The Commonwealth Fund, who is past Information and Innovation Officer at Partners Healthcare in Boston. The Commonwealth Fund is an independent research entity on health and social issues. Most recently, this Editor reviewed their paper on Spanish-language telemedicine assistance services [16 Aug]. Dr. Blumenthal noted the transformative spread of health records, to where a younger generation cannot conceive of dependency on written charts, and access of patients to their personal health records. He also noted the lack of system interoperability and usability. Will there be a disruptive entrant as he predicts in the future?

Honorees:

James (Jim) R. Tallon, Jr., former president of the United Hospital Fund of NY and former chairman of The Commonwealth Fund. He recounted the early years of NYeC (as a board member). In looking at the future, he hopes we can find our way to a more effective public policy. Overall, he believes that healthcare will be better organized and benefit more people. 

Paul Macielak, Esq., president and CEO of the NY State Health Plan Association which represents 29 NYS health plans, discussed the benefits of building out ‘the next mile’ — the HIE for the Capital (Albany) region for the consumer and the provider communities.

Patrick Roohan, VP Data Management and Analytic Solutions, MVP Health Care, was formerly the state Deputy Commissioner/Director of the Office of Quality and Patient Safety. He noted healthcare’s growth through technology and the effect it will have on quality and safety.

The night’s final honoree was Eugene (Gene) Heslin, MD, First Deputy Commissioner of the NY State Department of Health (DOH) and a family practice physician from Saugerties. (more…)

NYeC’s 2017 Gala and Awards (NYC) 1 November

October 18, 2017 | by

Wednesday, 1 November at the Edison Ballroom, NYC, 6:30pm

The New York eHealth Collaborative, which promotes healthcare in NY State and elsewhere by leading, connecting, and integrating health information exchanges in New York, will again host their annual evening Gala and Awards in NYC. This year the lead award (Transformative Leadership) will be awarded to David Blumenthal, MD, President of The Commonwealth Fund (the home of the Triple Aim). Having been to this event in the past, it is attended by the leadership of most major health organizations in New York such as New York-Presbyterian, NYU-Langone, Maimonides, and payers such as Aetna. Click here for more information and for tickets. The revenues support the work of NYeC in promoting interoperability through entities such as the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY), which links New York’s eight regional health information organizations (RHIOs) or Qualified Entities (QEs) throughout the state. They also fund NYeC’s work in developing policies and standards supporting the use of health IT and EHR adoption. Hat tip to Jesse Giuliani of NYeC and Sarianne Gruber of Answers Media.

Commonwealth Fund case study on Spanish-speaking telemedicine services (MX, PH, US)

August 16, 2017 | by

Recently released by the New York-based Commonwealth Fund health policy foundation is a case study of a new model for extending medical care in Mexico and with a variant in the US for the Spanish-speaking population. In Mexico, MedicallHome (not a typo) connects subscribers by phone and mobile app to a 24/7 national network of physicians and discounted health resources such as clinics, labs, pharmacies, in-person medical services, and hospitals. The 60-person Healthcare Contact Center, staffed by primary care doctors, psychologists, and nutritionists,  triage emergencies (press 1) to medical advice (press 2) to referrals (press 3). They also arrange in-person visits and emergency services.

MedicallHome’s model is targeted to low and middle-income Mexicans. It is primarily a direct-to-consumer offering, with subscriptions from $2 to $5/month, including travel health (60 cents for a bus trip) and low-cost insurance for students, but they also partner with private insurance, companies, and employers.  With an average of 500,000 calls per year, MedicallHome staff resolve 62 percent of cases by phone and refer the remaining cases for in-person treatment. Prescribing medications without an in-person consult is illegal in Mexico.  

The profitable MedicallHome complements the free (but overwhelmed and with long waits) national health service Seguro Popular. It also benefits from the oversupply of primary care physicians who work at multiple hospitals, clinics and private practices, and find the shift work in a call center convenient. Their parent, Salud Interactiva, built the infrastructure, IT, EHR, and worked with Telmex, the largest phone company in Mexico. They have also extended it to the Philippines as of July 2015 as Konsulta MD, a joint venture between Salud Interactiva and Globe Telecom, the Philippines’ primary telecommunications provider. 

Salud’s joint venture in the US, ConsejoSano (healthy advice) is also profiled in the case study. Since ConsejoSano connects to the Mexico-based call center and not to US doctors, (more…)