FIRST DENTAL PRACTICE JOINS HEALTHeLINK

BUFFALO, NEW YORK – HEALTHeLINK recently announced the addition of the first dental practice to Western New York’s clinical information exchange. Located in Hamburg, the family dental practice of Charles Travagliato, DDS and Donna Bitka, DDS, a husband and wife dental team, marks HEALTHeLINK’s expansion into supplying providers within all genres of health care with instant and secure access to their patients most current health information.

“Your body of information can at times be complicated and things such as medications you may be allergic to and recent blood work results can play an important role in treatment and care by not only a primary care physician or specialist but also your dentist,” said Daniel Porreca, executive director of HEALTHeLINK. “We are excited to welcome Drs. Travagliato and Bitka to HEALTHeLINK and look forward to adding more area dental practices in the near future.”

“We’ve had cases when an emergency patient has come to our office in the late afternoon with an infection and in severe pain. Unable to give a complete medical history and with the family physician having already left the office for the day, it’s difficult for us to treat without timely, accurate medical information,” said Dr. Charles Travagliato. “With HEALTHeLINK, this unfortunate scenario can be a thing of the past among dental practices as we are able to instantaneous access the information we need to safety and effectively treat our patients for optimum results,” continued Travagliato.

Individual patient dental records as well as all other patient health information may only be accessed through HEALTHeLINK by physicians and approved medical staffs who are involved in the patient’s care if the patient signs a consent form. More than 250,000 Western New Yorkers have already given their health care providers better access to the information they need by signing consent forms. Patient consent forms and information about the patient consent process are available at wnyhealthelink.com or by calling 716-206-0993 ext. 311.

About HEALTHeLINK: The not-for-profit organization was established through funding from BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York, The Catholic Health System, Erie County Medical Center Corporation, Independent Health Association, Kaleida Health, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Univera Healthcare and the Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers Capital Grant Program (HEAL NY) from New York State. HEALTHeLINK also received one of the country’s largest awards as part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program.

HEALTHeLINK stakeholders include a broad representation of healthcare professionals and organizations throughout the eight-county Western New York region such as the State University of New York at Buffalo, P2 Collaborative, Chautauqua County Health Network, the WNY Rural Area Health Education Center and local county public health departments. For more information on HEALTHeLINK, visit www.wnyhealthelink.com.

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