Netsmart teams up with NY county to improve health records, data exchange

Healthcare technology provider Netsmart has partnered with a New York county public health department to improve electronic health records and health information exchange for area seniors.

Specifically, the partnership will allow Jefferson County New York Public Health Service in northern New York to improve communication with area home health and long-term care providers. Netsmart will serve as a platform to securely share health information through HealtheConnections, Central New York’s Regional Health Information Organization.

 “We have a team that provides amazing care to our communities, but it’s a unique challenge to provide high quality care for someone when you only have half of the information,” said Ginger Hall, Jefferson County of NY Director of Public Health in a press release. “We know how valuable patient information from other providers can be when making care decisions. We want to get to a point where we’re fluently sharing our information.”

The first phase of integrating Netsmart into the county’s home health operations includes creating a workflow to send patient information from point of care to HealtheConnections to create a longitudinal patient record. The record will include alert notifications when a patient is admitted or discharged from the emergency department to improve transitions between care settings. 

Nicole Stempak

Nicole was Senior Editor at I Advance Senior Care and Long Term Living Magazine 2015-2017. She has a Journalism degree from Kent State University and is finalizing a master’s degree in Information Architecture and Management. She has extensive studies in the digital user experience and in branding online media. She has worked as an editor and writer for various B2B publications, including Business Finance.