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New York eHealth Collaborative Receives Federal Contract to Advance Interoperable Health Information Exchange and Improve Health Care Quality and Efficiency

The New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) has been awarded a one-year $2.8 million contract by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to participate in the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) Trial Implementation project.  Under this project, NYeC will work with two regional health information organizations (RHIOs) in the New York City metropolitan area – the New York Clinical Information Exchange (NYCLIX), Inc. and the Long Island Patient Information Exchange (LIPIX), Inc. – to support the secure exchange of electronic patient summary records between two of their participating providers – Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) and North Shore – Long Island Jewish Health System.  Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) will provide project management and technical implementation support for the project.  As a participant in the NHIN, NYeC and its partners will share the results from this statewide health information exchange effort with other projects across the state and country in order to further advance development of the NHIN.  The NHIN Trial Implementation project will also support the development and implementation of the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY).

“New York’s NHIN project will demonstrate that electronic health information can be shared in a secure and standard format across different provider settings in New York,” said Rachel Block, Interim Executive Director for NYeC.  “People receive care in a variety of settings leaving information about their care splintered between different organizations and unavailable to their providers even in emergency situations.  By providing a reliable and secure means for clinicians and patients to access that information, health information exchanges such as NYCLIX and LIPIX can greatly increase the quality, safety and efficiency of care.”  NYCLIX and LIPIX each enable the secure exchange of health information between multiple providers.  By connecting and building common approaches to health information exchange, VNSNY and North Shore will have access to even more patient information to help improve the delivery of care.

“Supporting improvements in health care quality, affordability and outcomes for New Yorkers through vastly improved availability and use of health information is a key focus of New York’s health IT strategy,” said Lori Evans, Deputy Commissioner, New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), Office of Health Information Technology Transformation.  “This requires combining the development of organizational, clinical and technical infrastructure and capacity to advance interoperable health information exchange.  Participation in the NHIN Trial Implementation supports this approach and the implementation of the SHIN-NY.”

The NHIN Trial Implementation project is New York’s latest step forward in implementing interoperable health information exchange, an effort that was launched in 2005 when NYSDOH awarded $53 million under the Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers Capital Grant Program (the HEAL NY Program) Phase 1 Health Information Technology (IT) Grants.  NYSDOH recently announced an additional $105.7 million investment to advance health information exchange and interoperable electronic health record adoption through a Request for Grant Application published on September 21, 2007.

NYeC was created in 2006 by statewide health care leaders based on a shared vision regarding the urgent need to support the transformation of health care delivery and financing through widespread use of health IT.  In August 2007, NYSDOH announced that NYeC will serve as the public-private partnership to support a statewide health IT collaboration process and provide a forum to discuss and collaborate on New York’s health IT agenda.

Robert Wah, M.D., Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, CSC, Public Sector, said “CSC is pleased to join our partners in New York as we bring our global experience and expertise from delivering the first NHIN prototype and from connecting the National Health Service in England.  We look forward to collaborating statewide in New York and nationwide with the other awardees and HHS as CSC continues its leadership in delivering better information for better decisions.”

Subcontractors assisting NYeC with the NHIN Trail Implementation project also include GSI Health, Shatzkin Systems, and the Health Information Technology Evaluation Collaborative (HITEC).

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About the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC)
The New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) is a New York State (NYS) not-for-profit corporation that was founded by health care leaders across the state, with leadership and support from the NYS Department of Health (DOH), based on a shared vision of the urgent need to improve health care quality, safety, and efficiency in NYS and facilitate the secure and interoperable exchange and use of health information. More information about NYeC can be found at www.nyehealth.org.

About Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation is a leading global information technology (IT) services company. CSC’s mission is to provide customers in industry and government with solutions crafted to meet their specific challenges and enable them to profit from the advanced use of technology.  With approximately 87,000 employees, CSC provides innovative solutions for customers around the world by applying leading technologies and CSC’s own advanced capabilities. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.csc.com.

About NYCLIX, Inc.
NYCLIX, Inc. is a New York State not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to create a clinical data exchange capability to improve patient care in the New York City region.  Currently, it includes 11 hospitals (8 of which are in Manhattan), the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, a federally qualified heath center, and a faculty practice organization.  More information about NYCLIX can be found at www.nyclix.org.

About Visiting Nurse Service of New York
VNSNY is the largest not-for-profit home health care organization in the nation. In 2006, VNSNY had an average of 31,000 patients under its care on any given day throughout New York City and Nassau and Westchester counties, and provided a wide range of health services to people of all ages. VNSNY participates in NYCLIX and other RHIOs in its service area that are developing secure computerized exchange of health information among the patient's medical providers, with the patient's consent. For more information, please visit www.vnsny.org.

About LIPIX, Inc.
LIPIX is a consortium formed to plan, develop, and implement a regional health information organization (RHIO) on Long Island.  LIPIX' primary goal is to create an achievable, sustainable and replicable model for integrating clinical information across multiple health care organizations. LIPIX strongly supports New York State and Federal strategic HIT plans to a) improve access to patient data at the point of care, b) improve health care quality; and, c) reduce inappropriate utilization and cost. More information about LIXIP can be found at www.lipix.org.

About North Shore-LIJ Health System
The nation's third largest, non-profit, secular healthcare system, the North Shore-LIJ Health System cares for people of all ages throughout Long Island, Queens and Staten Island – a service area encompassing more than five million people. Including its clinical affiliates, the health system consists of 16 hospitals, 11 long-term care facilities, a medical research institute, four trauma centers, five home health agencies and dozens of outpatient centers.

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