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���������� Note: The uniform state health information sharing program rolled out this year could enable providers to share information seamlessly and reduce overall costs and time wasted; but without buy-in from the majority of hospitals and providers, particularly those included in DSRIP, the system could in itself prove a waste.

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SHIN-NY: Promising, but Frustrating, Too

Crain’s Health Pulse; 2/17/2015

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The state’s patient portal will launch in Buffalo late next month. ���������� City patients will see theirs in September.

This is the year the last piece of the State Health Information Network, a system that’s cost $486 million to build, will finally come together. If the SHIN-NY falters, so, too, could the $6.4 billion DSRIP reform, which hinges on the ability of providers to easily and securely share medical information.

Despite the SHIN-NY’s promise, its limitations already have caused frustration. Parents, for example, won’t be able to view the medical information of their teenagers aged 12 and over. And teens after the age of 12 won’t have access to the system at all. That’s consistent with current laws regarding paper records, said David Whitlinger, who heads the ���������� eHealth Collaborative, which controls the SHIN-NY. The technology also limits patients from choosing which portion of their medical record to share with doctors.

Early studies show that when doctors have access to a patient’s full records, health care delivery is more efficient and cheaper. Unnecessary tests contribute to the estimated one-third of medical spending that is waste.

“When you duplicate tests, the costs to the system are enormous,” said Dr. Salvatore Volpe, a family doctor based in Staten Island. “Patients think that doctors already have all their information. It’s just not true.” Dr. Volpe sits on the board of the NYeC and is deeply enthusiastic about its possibilities.

“If I refer you to a cardiologist and send a copy of your ECG, medical history and physical, she won’t have to spend 15 minutes getting that history from you. She’ll verify it maybe in five minutes. And you don’t have to take time out of your life to go for blood tests,” he added, “because you and I already did it.”

But many doctors who were not involved in the SHIN-NY’s creation were barely aware of its existence when interviewed by Crain’s. And while the vast majority of hospitals have connected to the network, only 19% of private physicians have done so. The highest number of holdouts is in ���������� City—one reason the patient portal will start upstate, said Mr. Whitlinger.

As for the network’s status as perhaps the most unknown $486 million project in ����������, Mr. Whitlinger said a public campaign is planned for this summer, and the system’s backers wanted to get doctors and hospitals on board first.

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