Mount St. Mary's Hospital and Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center Join HEALTHeLINK

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HEALTHeLINK continues expansion among hospitals throughout Western New York

BUFFALO, NEW YORK – HEALTHeLINK today announced that Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center and Mount St. Mary’s Hospital have joined the Western New York Clinical Information Exchange. By joining HEALTHeLINK, both hospitals are now able to access and share patient health information electronically with hundreds of healthcare providers across the region when medically necessary. The goal is to improve the delivery of care, enhance clinical outcomes and help mitigate healthcare costs throughout Western New York.

“This is a major milestone for HEALTHeLINK as we extend the region’s health information exchange into Niagara County,” said Daniel E. Porreca, executive director, HEALTHeLINK. “Having a highly efficient and operable clinical information exchange is vital to the future of our region’s health care system of which Niagara County is an important component.”

Through HEALTHeLINK, physicians at both hospitals now have immediate access to patient data, including lab and radiology reports, prescription histories, and other transcribed reports. In addition to Mount St. Mary’s and Niagara Falls Memorial, Quest Labs, Kaleida Health, Catholic Health, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Erie County Medical Center and WCA Hospital are currently posting and sharing patient health information.

“Immediate electronic access to patient information, including test results and prescription histories, saves valuable time and can save lives,” said Niagara Falls Memorial President & CEO Joseph A. Ruffolo. “We see this as an important advance in the provision of high quality care to our patients.”

“This is another important step to having critical patient information readily available to physicians to enhance patient care,” said Judith A. Maness, president and chief executive officer of Mount St. Mary’s Hospital and Health Center. “Providing electronic connections with health information for all caregivers has long been part of our strategic direction and is important in improving care and in providing the best possible and most timely care.”

“Sustainable solutions to fixing health care require a collective responsibility,” said Dr. Michael Cropp, president and CEO, Independent Health and chair of HEALTHeLINK board of directors. “It requires all of us – physicians, hospitals, health plans and the business community – to work together on initiatives such as HEALTHeLINK to enhance the quality of our health care system.”

HEALTHeLINK is a collaborative effort among the major health care organizations in Western New York with the goal of providing fast and secure access to patient medical and health information. Information is available to licensed healthcare providers such as physicians and nurses only when a patient provides authorization by signing a consent form. HEALTHeLINK enables multiple providers to see important patient clinical information where and when it’s needed – at the point of care.

“HEALTHeLINK will improve the health care experience by providing physicians with quicker and more comprehensive access to health information that can dramatically impact the quality of care given to a patient,” said Raghu Ram, MD, senior medical director, BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and chairman of the HEALTHeLINK Physician Advisory Committee. “We are very pleased that our collaboration now includes the physician community in Niagara County.”

Patient consent forms are being made available at both hospitals as well as at the HEALTHeLINK website at www.wnyhealthelink.com. Approximately 70,000 individuals throughout Western New York have signed consent forms to share their health information through HEALTHeLINK. To learn more about HEALTHeLINK and the patient consent process please call 716-206-0993 ext. 311.

Mount St. Mary's Hospital, a member of Ascension Health, is a 179-bed community hospital in Lewiston, N.Y. The hospital is committed to sustaining and improving the health and spirit of individuals and communities with special attention to the needs of those who are poor and vulnerable. Mount St. Mary’s team of healthcare professionals includes 1,350 employees, 200 physicians and 250 volunteers, working with the latest technology, the most current programming, and the very best of care.

Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center is a full-service, 171-bed medical center with extensive inpatient and outpatient services including The Heart Center of Niagara, Diabetes & Endocrinology Center of Niagara and University Sports Medicine of Niagara. As Niagara’s Premier Health Network, Memorial also operates several satellite facilities including the Summit Healthplex, Tuscarora Health Center, Hamilton B. Mizer Primary Care Center and the Schoellkopf Health Center, a 120-bed skilled nursing facility that features 100-percent private room accommodations and specializes in short-term rehabilitation and elder care. Memorial is Niagara’s safety net hospital for the medically underserved, uninsured and underinsured, providing $7 million in uncompensated and charity care annually.

HEALTHeLINK, the Western New York Clinical Information Exchange, is a collaborative effort among various organizations to share clinical information in efficient and meaningful ways to improve the delivery of care, enhance clinical outcomes, and help control healthcare costs throughout the region. The not-for-profit organization was established through funding from The Catholic Health System, Erie County Medical Center Corporation, HealthNow New York (BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York), 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 stakeholders also include a broad representation of healthcare professionals and organizations throughout the eight-county Western New York region such as the Buffalo Academy of Medicine (BAM), Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH), State University of New York at Buffalo and the WNY R-AHEC (Rural Area Health Education Center).

HEALTHeLINK continues expansion among hospitals throughout Western New York

HEALTHeLINK continues expansion among hospitals throughout Western New York

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