Office of Mental Health to Leverage HealtheConnections as Hub for Statewide Data Sharing

HealtheConnections and the Office of Mental Health (OMH) are in the process of completing a connection that will pass patient health information from 13 state-operated psychiatric centers (SOPCs) in upstate New York into 4 regional health information organizations (RHIOs): HealtheConnections, HEALTHeLINK, Rochester RHIO, and Hixny.

As a qualified entity (QE) of the Statewide Health Information Network of New York (SHIN-NY), HealtheConnections will serve as the single point of connection for these RHIOs. Information will be flowing into its exchange first, followed by the other RHIOs as coordinated by OMH and HealtheConnections.

OMH is a large, multi-faceted mental health system that serves more than 700,000 individuals each year and operates psychiatric centers across the State. OMH also regulates, certifies and oversees more than 4,500 programs, operated by local governments and nonprofit agencies. Bringing this data into the SHIN-NY improves the quality and completeness of patient medical records, which is crucial for care teams to make informed decisions when prescribing a course of care. More complete, timely data are proven to lead to more streamlined transitions of care, case management, and ultimately delivers better outcomes for each patient.

Today, the SHIN-NY connects all of the hospitals in New York State, over 100,000 healthcare professionals, and represents millions of people who live in or receive care in New York. Providers who connect to their RHIO will be able to access data through their RHIO’s services, which include patient medical histories, lab results, clinical event alerts, and more.

To learn more about HealtheConnections, visit https://healtheconnections.org/.
To learn more about the SHIN-NY, visit https://www.nyehealth.org/shin-ny/what-is-the-shin-ny/.