The director of New York’s Department of Quality & Patient Safety, Patrick Roohan, joined Hixny, which operates the health information exchange that serves the Capital District, northern New York and the Mohawk Valley to share an update on Nov. 25. They unveiled the portal that will enable patients to download their electronic medical records. The portal is available at six regional hospitals.

Earlier this year, the New York Legislature voted in support of the state’s electronic health records system, the Statewide Health Information Network of New York (SHIN-NY). The public network opens access for doctors and patients to electronic health records no matter where they live or work in the state. SHIN-NY aims to improve quality of care and to help reduce wasteful health care spending.

“Hixny and the Statewide Health Information Network of New York are essential to improving the delivery of health care in the Empire State,” said New York’s Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker in a statement. “By giving doctors and patients the ability to access critical health data when they need it, these networks will help reduce health care costs, and more importantly, save lives.”

Hixny operates the health information exchange that serves more than 1.7 million patients in the Capital District, northern New York and the Mohawk Valley.

“We are proud to have established the first community-wide patient portal in New York State and we are excited for its ability to enhance care coordination for the 1.7 million patients in our region,” said Mark McKinney, CEO of Hixny, in a statement. “This community-wide portal is the latest step on behalf of our unique regional collaborative to support the triple aim of enhanced patient experience, improving population health and reducing health care costs.”

The six regional hospital networks that will be using the patient portal system are Ellis Medicine; Adirondack Health; The University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital; Columbia Memorial Hospital; Nathan Littauer Hospital; and Saratoga Hospital. When patients are discharged from these hospitals, health care professionals create an account which allows the patient to securely access their electronic community health records.

“By accessing data through Hixny, Ellis physicians have been able to better understand their patients’ complete medical history, helping them provide better care more quickly,” said Paul Milton, executive vice president and COO of Ellis Medicine, in a statement. “The patient portal allows patients to take a more proactive role in their health care, leading to ultimately a safer, better experience. The more health care providers who sign up for the patient portal, the more we can do to improve care coordination to help keep the Capital Region healthy.”
 

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When Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, N.Y., a part of the Ellis Medicine health care system, faced vehicle exhaust emissions entering through fresh air intakes, administrators sought out a solution to the challenge.

The existing six-story facility, which was rebuilt in 2010, includes a fresh air intake under a covered area that serves a primary pick-up and drop-off point for patients entering and leaving the facility.

The intake supplies fresh air to a 30,000 cfm air handling unit which serves several areas within the Ellis Medicine-owned hospital.

In spite of signs urging visitors not to idle by the entrance, patients and staff complained about the vehicle exhaust odors, with the most complaints coming in during the winter months. Patient comfort and wellness were also concerns, according to the hospital staff.

To address the issue, the hospital installed Dynamic V8 air cleaning systems in the air handling unit to filter indoor return air and incoming ventilation air.

The systems eliminated the odors and the complaints, and also feature a longer filter service life.

Prior to the installation of the systems, hospital maintenance personnel were replacing two-inch passive pleated filters every few months. The Dynamic V8 Air Cleaner replacement media will not require replacing for years instead of months, according to the company.

Based on the success of the installations, the hospital plans to install more cleaners.

Latham, N.Y.-based Trane served as the consultant and mechanical systems provider on the project, with Albany-based Colonie as the mechanical contractor and Darren Schaperjahn, the hospital’s in-house facility manager, as the utility manager.

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