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Electronic Health Records Summit - Register Now!
STHL and the New York eHealth collaborative (NYeC) are pleased to sponsor a day long Summit on Electronic Healthcare Records and Meaningful Use on April 29 at Traditions at the Glen in Johnson City.
The Summit is targeted to both providers who are considering changing from a paper-based records practice to electronics, plus those providers who have made the change to EHRs and are working toward Meaningful Use and the sizeable federal government incentives (potentially from over $40,000 to more than $60,000 per provider).
EHR vendors will be available to discuss their products and services during session breaks.
The event will start with registration and breakfast at 7:30 AM and end with closing remarks and door prize drawing at 3:00 PM. Peter Cucchiara, Director of Performance Improvement and Health Information Technology at Primary Care Development Corporation, will deliver the keynote address. He will speak about the overlapping objectives of medical home and meaningful use, and how these initiatives can be addressed simultaneously. Session presentations will be on two tracks depending on the attendees' individual situation with EHR adoption, and will feature local, state and regional experts. For program details or to register, go to EHR Summit, email info@sthlny.com, or call (607)651-9150.
Remember -- Save the Date: Friday, April 29 for the EHR and Meaningful Use Summit at Traditions!
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STHL to Host April 11 STOC Networking Cafe on Social Media
STHL is pleased to host the April 11 meeting of Southern Tier Opportunity Coalition's monthly Networking Café. Christina Galanis, STHL Executive Director, will discuss the business and communications opportunities related to social media, and specifically the virtual world of Second Life.
STHL uses Second Life to aide healthcare consumers in understanding both the broad concept of a health information exchange as well as, individually, how a personal health record can benefit a consumer in their own healthcare. STHL has a location within Second Life called NY Healthscape and has used it for various educational and entertaining events. Recently, STHL raised $64,000 for breast cancer. Galanis will discuss this recent effort as well as some unique future plans
The event will be held from 5:00-7:00pm at STHL's offices in the former Lackawanna Train Station on Lewis Street in downtown Binghamton. There is no charge, and it is open to the general business public. To register, contact STOC Administrative Manager Natalia Czabala at nczabala@gmail.com.
Formed in 2002, the Southern Tier Opportunity Coalition is a private sector/academic partnership initiative to help address economic growth in the Southern Tier. The coalition provides a single knowledgeable point of contact for regional business development resources to assist new business initiatives. |
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 Welcome Endwell Family Physicians!
Endwell Family Physicians (EFP) is now partnering with Southern Tier HealthLink (STHL). EFP administrative personnel have begun asking patients to sign consent forms allowing EFP providers to access their health information in STHL's Health Information Exchange (HIE).
Beginning in April, EFP will start using STHL's EHR-EHR referral services, whereby referral requests and other information can be transmitted to other practices participating in the STHL Health Information Exchange.
Dr. Duncan Sze-Tu, Endwell Family Physicians' Managing Partner for Health Information Technology said, "We have been excited to see Southern Tier HealthLink's HIE develop over the past several years and are eager to begin accessing data on our patients. This is the first step in fully integrating information from STHL into our patients' records at EFP. It will allow us to continue to provide excellent care to the residents of the Southern Tier, as well as aid in our goals for achieving Meaningful Use and Patient Centered Medical Home status."
To find out more about STHL services, contact us at (607)651-9150, or www.sthlny.com. |
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Southern Tier HealthLink Adds Lab Results and Reports
from Delaware Valley Hospital
Delaware Valley Hospital (DVH) lab test results, radiology reports, and transcription reports are now available in the Southern Tier HealthLink (STHL) Health Information Exchange (HIE). Lab results include general lab, microbiology, blood bank, pathology and others. Radiology reports include general radiology, ultrasound, CT, vascular medicine, mammography and others. Transcription reports include operative notes, history and physical exam, discharge summary, progress and procedure notes.
The HIE technology being implemented allows practitioners to quickly access critical health information such as medical history, medications currently being taken by patients, and drug allergies. Other important information on a patient's medical record can be obtained even when a patient may not be able to communicate. Information can be accessed by virtually all providers across the Southern Tier, whether they are using EHR software or are still on a paper-based records system. For more information, contact STHL at (607)651-9150 or info@sthlny.com.
"Adding the Delaware Valley Hospital lab results, radiology reports,and transcription reports is a significant step forward in the building of our HIE, particularly for the residents of Walton, Delaware County and surrounding areas" said Christina Galanis, STHL Executive Director. "Now this information is available at the click of a mouse to physicians throughout the Southern Tier. When a DVH patient needs specialized care like brain surgery, heart surgery, or cancer treatment, providers will be able to easily coordinate care."
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| More Providers Taking Consent Across Southern Tier
As the consent in the Southern Tier HealthLink (STHL) Health Information Exchange (HIE) continues to grow, so does the number of providers who are now taking STHL consent forms. Currently, over 65,000 consent forms have been collected.
Patients may now submit consent forms at the following locations:
Binghamton Gastroenterology Associates
Cardiology Associates
Endwell Family Physicians
Lourdes Hospital
Lourdes Primary Care Network
UHS Hospitals
UHS Primary Care
UHS Medical Group
Linda E Fort, PC
Donna Husmann, MD
F. Keith Kennedy, PC
Karen R. Lindner-Banks, DO PLLC
Recently, UHS and Lourdes began transmitting patient consent electronically. Patients must still complete an STHL consent form with their health care provider, but rather than wait for the form to be processed, their consent choice is transmitted to STHL's HIE electronically. If the patient has chosen "Yes" for consent, their practitioners will then have immediate access to that patient's electronic health record that is stored in the HIE. Besides the important benefit of timely access to the patient's health information, health care providers' offices are "greener" when thousands of consent forms do not need to be faxed, or copied and transported.
The STHL HIE is available to virtually all providers across the Southern Tier of New York, whether they have an Electronic Healthcare Records system or are paper-based. Providers must have a relationship with a patient to access records, and of course, the patient must have signed a consent form for that provider's organization.
Consumers with any questions about consent and providers who are interested in accessing the STHL HIE should contact STHL at (607) 651-9150 or email info@sthlny.com. |
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Carolyn and Kirsten with Lourdes Spiritual Advisor, Mary Alice |
STHL Attends Lourdes Patient Health and Safety Fair
Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital invited STHL to its annual Patient Safety Fair at the hospital on March 8, in celebration of National Patient Safety Week. The event was in the Lourdes Lecture Hall and was attended by both Lourdes staff and the general public.
STHL representatives Carolyn Stanford and Kirsten Griffin welcomed booth visitors with our brochure and copies of the STHL consent form and fact sheet. Patients were encouraged to consent to medical records access by providers via the STHL Health Information Exchange.
Special thanks to Janet Krcha and Chad Patton of Lourdes, who helped facilitate our participation, and also to Patti Willis of Outpatient Registration, who worked with us at the event to sign up many Lourdes patients to a STHL consent form. |
 STHL Attends 2011 HIMSS Conference
Southern Tier HealthLink recently attended the 2011 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference, joining thousands of other healthcare technology professionals at the largest conference and trade show in the industry. Executive Director Christina Galanis and Deputy Director
Emily Pape represented STHL at the four-day event.
The HIMSS event included over 300 education sessions focused on the industry's hottest topics: Meaningful Use, Healthcare Analytics, HITECH, HIE, standards, interoperability and more. Hundreds of the most innovative healthcare IT vendors showcased their wares at the healthcare IT exhibition. The conference featured the nation's premier forum highlighting Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise's (IHE) common framework for delivering interoperability across local, regional, and national health information exchanges.
"Not only did we meet with our current supporting vendors, but we were able to connect with RHIOs from across the state and nation" said Galanis. Pape added, "The technological developments coming in healthcare are amazing, and will contribute to the success of our Health Information Exchange in the future." |
| STHL Updates Lourdes Nurses on Consent, Meaningful Use
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Christina Galanis presents to
Lourdes staff |
STHL Executive Director Christina Galanis was the guest speaker at Our Lady of Lourdes' "Lunch and Learn" on February 15 at the Lourdes Lecture Hall. With an audience of over 40 nurses, registration personnel and other caregivers, Christina gave the group a background on STHL and our Health Information Exchange (HIE). She overviewed our current status of records being transmitted into the HIE, and identified those providers currently accessing it.
Christina also provided an update on Electronic Healthcare Records (EHRs) and how they fit into the hospital and provider offices of the future. She discussed the government incentives currently available for providers reaching Meaningful Use of their EHRs.
There was strong interest in EHRs and Meaningful Use. A number of the nurses felt that the data available in the HIE would allow them to have a more complete picture of their patients' medical history and recent activity, thus allowing them to provide faster, more effective care while helping reduce costs by eliminating duplicate testing.
Thanks to Judy Kitchin of Lourdes and Binghamton University for scheduling this important event. Feedback from the audience was enthusiastic, and the talk was particularly timely as Lourdes is currently taking consent forms at Outpatient Registration and will begin taking them in their provider practices during the month of April.
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Executive Director
Christina Galanis
Deputy Director
Emily Pape
Project Coordinators
Paul Almy, John Hayek, Dennis Sherba
Data Base Coordinator
Kirsten Griffin
Administrative Consultant
Carolyn Stanford
Help Desk Support Specialist
Chris Yale
Staff Accountant
Michelle Cleveland
Administrative Secretary
Judy Selby |
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