NYCLIX, Inc. is a New York City –based regional health information organization (RHIO). NYCLIX was created to establish a privacy-protected system for sharing clinical information among physicians , hospitals and other health care service organizations in efficient and meaningful ways.

Imagine you are out to dinner, celebrating the clean bill of health you were given after a recent cardiac catheterization. Suddenly, you feel pain in your chest, and EMS is called. You ask to be taken to the hospital where your procedure was done, your physician is on staff, and all tests related to your recent procedure are available. EMS takes you instead to the closest hospital due to the situation’s urgency.

The doctor in the emergency department (ED) doesn’t have your baseline information, so even if you have only heartburn, it’s likely you’ll be admitted to the hospital and need to have tests repeated regardless of what was already done by your cardiologist.

But what if the ED doctor could log on and locate your information, in a secure network of health care facilities and be given a view of the information needed to better evaluate you – all in a matter of seconds. After reviewing that information, evaluating you and your tests in the ED, it’s determined that you are safe to be discharged home after a short observation period. You’re told to follow up with your cardiologist in a few days and a costly, unnecessary hospital admission is avoided.

This scenario for sharing medical information among health care providers is the means by which the the New York Clinical Information Exchange (NYCLIX) members will realize their goals of improving the delivery of care, enhancing clinical outcomes and helping control healthcare costs.