NEWS
Southern Tier HealthLink Connects with United Methodist Homes
7/28/2011
Southern Tier HealthLink (STHL) has established a bidirectional exchange of records with United Methodist Homes Broome County skilled nursing facilities.
Effective July 12, STHLs Health Information Exchange (HIE) began receiving Admit/Discharge/Transfer and Conditions records for residents of Elizabeth Church Manor and the James G. Johnston Memorial Nursing Home. Effective July 27, STHL also made regional healthcare records available to the providers at United Methodist Homes (UMH). Additional UMH records will be available to the STHL HIE in the future.
UMH resident information including vital demographics, allergies and known problems is now accessible to participating healthcare organizations for which patients have signed a STHL HIE consent document. Over 1,600 providers, clinicians and support personnel are actively using the STHL HIE, including all major hospitals in the Southern Tier of New York. HIE technology allows practitioners to quickly access critical health information, even when a patient may not be able to communicate.
Additionally, STHL is now sending HIE records directly to United Methodist Homes Electronic Healthcare Records (EHR) systems, saving UMH valuable time and administrative effort. UMH providers will now have access to records from participating providers located across the Southern Tier to ensure they provide informed, timely follow-up and continuing care for both existing and new UMH residents.
We are excited to be taking the first steps in providing a valuable service to our residents, said Keith Chadwick, President and CEO of United Methodist Homes. Were happy to have access to STHLs HIE for our providers, and are looking forward to the time that our residents full medical records will be at the fingertips of community medical providers.
Christina Galanis, Executive Director of Southern Tier HealthLink, added, The accessibility of United Methodist Homes resident records represents another step in the expansion of our Health Information Exchange. Likewise, having records in our HIE accessible to United Methodist Homes affords them the opportunity to provide excellent care to their residents. We look forward to continuing to expand our records interface with United Methodist Homes.
Southern Tier HealthLink (sthlny.com) was established with leadership and support from UHS, Lourdes Hospital and other stakeholders in 2005. STHL is a non-profit organization designed as a partnership which brings together healthcare providers and consumers in Central New York to connect the dots with technology that will improve health care quality, access, and safety while reducing costs. STHL now offers a Patient Portal, allowing healthcare consumers to access, manage, and monitor their health information through the internet. For more information contact Christina Galanis at or .
