The Challenge

• The use of electronic health records – which provide individuals with the ability to access their individualized health care information whenever and wherever – has been proven to improve the quality and efficiency of care while reducing health care costs and medical errors.
• Physicians using electronic health records scored 18% higher on quality measures than physicians without the technology. Medication errors without the use of technology may be as high as 100 errors per 1,000 cases.
• Currently, the physician adoption rate for electronic health records is low – 18% in 2006, and even lower in solo and small physician offices at only 8%. Hospital rates are low too. Only 11% of hospitals that responded to a 2007 American Hospital Association survey reported a fully implemented electronic health record system.
• One study reported a 70% improvement in patient satisfaction when providers used an electronic health record, which improved the availability of clinical and patient information.

Our Approach

• The Governor has charged the Department of Health with developing:
• A public-private partnership to facilitate a statewide, collaborative process regarding health IT initiatives;
• A standards-based interoperable system to advance the widespread adoption of electronic health records; and,
• Policies to protect patient privacy and strengthen information security.
• The Department of Health will award over $100 million in 2008 as part of the HEAL NY Health IT grant program to advance community-wide electronic health record adoption. The funding is part of the Administration’s efforts to transform from a paper-based system to an electronic interconnected system through funding from the HEAL NY and F-SHRP programs.

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