2024 letter to the community
To our participants, stakeholders, and partners,
As we reflect on the past year, we are pleased to be sharing this letter with you once again. Each year brings unique challenges and opportunities, and it is a testament to our strong partnerships that we continue to evolve.
HealtheConnections has maintained a consistent record of high performance and sustained growth. Our health information exchange (HIE) network is robust, our data high-quality, and our industry expertise recognized and appreciated. While we take pride in these achievements, the true highlights of the last year lie in the strategic, multiyear initiatives we’ve set in motion.
Our priorities for 2024 are the continuation of these initiatives:
- implementing a data-centric operating model and innovative new HIE system,
- supporting public health initiatives and health departments at the state and local level,
- joint efforts with state and regional partners to advance interoperability and health improvement goals,
- continuing to enhance customer advisory and support services operations,
- and maintaining our strong position in security, compliance, and accreditations.
HealtheConnections’ Mission
Through trusted collaboration with participants, stakeholders, and partners, we develop and deliver valued services, enabling improvements in health and healthcare delivery, resulting in healthier people, better care, and cost efficiencies.
Innovation and Value in Services and Systems: Data Centricity
Throughout fourteen years of operation, HealtheConnections has been at the forefront of essential advancements in health data access, quality, and use. Data is our competency, and it’s use is foundational to our success. We are implementing a new data centricity mindset throughout the organization and reflected in our systems and services.
A data-centric organization is inherently more adaptable and agile. By establishing overarching operational and data strategies with which to make technological choices, we aren’t limited by a small set of use cases or an application that is quickly outdated. Data centricity embraces change, allowing us to continually ask new questions of HealtheConnections' data and provide answers to support evolving priorities.
The principles of data centricity uphold data as a core asset independent of any single application or service. This is a fundamental shift in how we view data, ensuring strategies around the optimal collection, processing, management, and distribution of data drive decision-making throughout the organization and with participants and stakeholders.
We are designing and implementing a new Data Centricity System for launch later this year. The system will leverage innovative technology and principles for more efficient, faster, and more flexible offerings to drive value for us all.
Collaboration with Statewide Partners
HealtheConnections, the New York eHealth Collaborative, and the other five regional health information exchanges (HIEs) of New York that form the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY) are committed to advancing New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) priorities. Strategically, our focus is to make a greater impact on public health through operational efficiencies and increasing support of the NYSDOH, the 1115 Medicaid Waiver, and local health departments. We’re working together to evaluate and establish opportunities for shared infrastructure, collaborate on sharing data, and support broader interoperability.
Supporting the 1115 Medicaid Waiver
Collaborative efforts are already under way in support of the 1115 Medicaid Waiver with an emphasis on using health related social needs (HRSN) data to address health disparities. New York HIEs will work with Social Care Networks (SCNs) to capture and distribute these data. We're participating on cross-functional, statewide workgroups to create the shared infrastructure, standards, and associated processes that will facilitate the sharing and access of HRSN data.
Prioritizing the Needs of Local Health Departments
Local health departments have long been important and active members of the HealtheConnections network, and throughout 2024, we will continue to elicit their feedback and collaborate on optimal uses for HIE data to inform and evaluate public health needs and initiatives. Community-wide HIE data can be used to support public health surveillance, outbreak investigations, medical examiner determinations, emergency preparedness, and more.
Maintaining Business Excellence & Trust through Operational Improvements and Accreditations
A tenet of HealtheConnections’ success is continued refinement of operational processes and organizational structures. Throughout 2023 and into 2024, we’ve purposefully renewed focus on best practices and increased collaboration to drive value and efficiency.
Customer Advisory & Support Services
We have optimized our customer advisement and support services model for scale and efficiency, shifting from a more traditional account management structure to a team-based methodology. This ensures we can continue to be responsive and agile to meet customer needs.
Security, Compliance, & Accreditations
We maintain strict operational standards and accreditations including HITRUST and SHIN-NY requirements. These certifications are a source of pride for us, earned year after year, demonstrating strong security, regulatory, operational, and fiscal compliance practices. We’ve strengthened ties between our compliance, operational, and security teams to reinforce this commitment to information security and data stewardship.
Leveraging 2023 Momentum
Accomplishments of 2023 have set the foundation for our 2024 priorities.
Data Quality, Contribution, & Access
- Launched the design and implementation of our Data Centricity System (DCS)
- Led a statewide sensitive data segmentation project to research and develop standard approaches for the identification and handling of sensitive data
- Refined data quality processes and focused efforts for continued high quality data input and output
- Expanded health information exchange services and data source integrations
- 61% increase in alerts delivered to participating providers
- 26%+ increase in lab, imaging, and transcribed reports received
Population & Public Health
- Actively engaged in data sharing workflows in support of the 1115 Medicaid Waiver
- Served on statewide Public Health Workgroup to explore the effective utilization of HIE data for emerging public health priorities
- Collaborated with the other SHIN-NY partners to establish standards for the exchange of health related social needs (HRSN) assessment data
- Collaborated with the NYSDOH and two other QEs to complete the Innovative Chronic Disease Grant to demonstrate the value of HIEs developing population-level prevalence estimates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, creating clinical registries and hosting chronic disease referral platforms
- Successfully completed the Colonoscopy Proof of Concept Grant with funding from the NYSDOH and Health Research Incorporated to assess whether HIE data could be used to create a Regional Colonoscopy Registry
- Collaborated with the Lantana Consulting Group and the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network to demonstrate two use cases for HIE data to support public health surveillance
Operational Standards
- Renewed Department of Health accreditation as a health information exchange of New York State (SHIN-NY)
- Achieved HITRUST security certification for the fourth year — the gold standard of security management programs
- Met New York State Department of Health compliance in support of Federal Government accessibility requirements for information and communication technology (Section 508)
- Optimized our customer service operating model for efficiency and maturity for improved customer experience
- Exceeded our financial, compliance and operational goals
Advanced solutions, purposeful collaboration, and trust will continue to be our focus and commitment.
There are exciting new opportunities on the horizon not only for HealtheConnections but for the communities and partners we serve. With innovation, value, and collaboration at the forefront, we will remain steadfast in our commitment to enhancing care delivery and supporting improved health.
Sincerely,
Rob Hack
President & CEO
HealtheConnections
By the Numbers
organizations
locations
licensed
physicians participating
organizations contributing data
patients’ records received per month
clinical alerts
per month
clinical summary documents received per month
image studies received per month
clinical diagnostic results and reports
unique patients accessed per month
