It Seems Consumers Will Opt In And Consent To Health Information Exchange When It Offers Value!

This appeared last week:

Western New York HIE reaches 1 million patient consents

By Greg Slabodkin

Published October 10 2017, 6:36am EDT

HEALTHeLINK, the clinical information exchange connecting hospitals, physicians, and payers in Western New York, has secured more than 1 million uniquely consented patients.

According to Dan Porreca, executive director of HEALTHeLINK, this achievement represents a significant community milestone for the eight counties the HIE serves, as it continues to improve quality of care, patient safety, while reducing healthcare costs by eliminating redundant tests.

�It is the doctors, practices and hospitals that capture the patient consents, so they can get access to the information,� says Porreca, noting that New York is an opt-in state for patients wanting to share their data with HIEs. But, he contends it is patients that �hold the key� to enabling their treating providers to have a �more complete picture of their medical record.�

Of HEALTHeLINK�s more than 1 million uniquely consented patients, about 95 percent of those who consent authorize their health information�including diagnostic images, lab reports, and medication history�to be securely shared among treating providers at the point of care.

�Early on, we were contemplating ways that we could capture consents without putting a burden on provider organizations. We tried a lot of different things but at the end of day patient trust is the highest with their doctors,� adds Porreca. �The vast majority of those consents take place in doctors� offices and hospitals throughout the community.�

Currently, all of Western New York�s hospitals and 87 percent of physician practices participate in the not-for-profit HIE, which holds more than 206 million records and continues to bring on data sources.

�We�re very fortune in Western New York to have that level of collaboration amongst those competitors�and, in some cases adversaries when you get into negotiations,� says Porreca. �However, when they sit around our board table, it�s a collaborative process.�

More here:

https://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/western-new-york-hie-reaches-1-million-patient-consents

It seems that when both the docs and the patient see value people will consent and use health information exchange. There might be a lesson here?

David.