HealtheConnections Announces Finalization of Merger
Following a strategic partnership, HealtheConnections & HealthlinkNY are now officially merged into NYS’ geographically largest regional health information organization.
Two New York State regional health information organizations (RHIOs) have merged into one – HealtheConnections is now officially the RHIO serving the Central & Northern New York, Southern Tier and Hudson Valley regions.
Following the announcement of a strategic partnership in September 2018, the non-profit organizations agreed that a merger would quickly accelerate their ability to support regional goals and the needs of both healthcare providers and their patients. Operational and legal integrations were completed May 1, 2019. Rob Hack will remain president and CEO of the company, and Staci Romeo, previous executive director of HealthlinkNY, will serve as Vice President of Health Information Exchange (HIE) Customer Engagement Services.
“We look forward to expanding the work we’re doing to support the broader reach this merger brings,” Hack said. “HealtheConnections is, first and foremost, a solutions company. Through trusted collaboration, we partner with our customers and leverage our key competencies in customer engagement and technology solutions to deliver the highest level of value.”
In the ever-changing landscape of healthcare, interoperable solutions that support better care coordination and value-based care are critical elements to improving health and care delivery. HealtheConnections operates a regional HIE, community and population health improvement teams and a value-based care solutions division. It is New York state’s regionally largest organization of its kind, spanning 26 counties with four office locations – Syracuse, Binghamton, Hopewell Junction and a new location in Tarrytown scheduled to open this summer.
An HIE helps improve population health and healthcare quality by connecting participating providers, creating a single, more complete patient medical history. As a result, healthcare professionals have more immediate access to the information they need to make more informed decisions and, ultimately, affect patient outcomes for the better through large hospital systems, small individual practices, payers and more. More than 1,300 organizations across 3,000 locations are already connected, supporting more than 7,800 providers and millions of patients.
HealtheConnections is an accredited entity operating and connecting its regional HIE with others in New York state that, together, form the Statewide Health Information Network of New York (SHIN-NY). The merger is fully supported by the New York State Department of Health and aligns with the strategic goals of efficiency and affordability outlined in the SHIN-NY roadmap.
The company’s primary focus as it enters its 10th year of operation is to continue to exceed expectations with advanced technology, dedicated support and quality data.
“As this process comes to a close, it is energizing to look toward the future to deliver the value that our participants have come to rely on,” Hack said.
