Ehealth4NY Web Site Launched by Legal Action Center as Part of Statewide Initiative to Educate and Engage New Yorkers on eHealth
Today, the Legal Action Center launches a new ehealth4NY website - www.ehealth4ny.org - as part of its Consumer Education and Engagement on eHealth initiative, dedicated to educating New Yorkers about the benefits offered by growing electronic health information networks in the state, and the options and choices New Yorkers now have for reaping those benefits in their own lives.
Urgency exists to educate and engage the public about the benefits of eHealth, and also to provide information about privacy and security safeguards built in to eHealth in New York's infrastructure by both federal and state law, and policy.
New York State is investing substantial resources to move from paper to electronic medical records in the health care system, and is building a statewide electronic health information network to give health care providers the ability to see and share their patients' health information through computer systems operated by RHIOs (Regional Health Information Organizations). At the same time, the Obama Administration and Congress are providing funding through the stimulus bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, ARRA) within New York and throughout the country to build and bolster eHealth as a way to cut costs and improve health care.
Our new web site - www.ehealth4ny.org - offers comprehensive resources to help New Yorkers inform themselves about what eHealth means, why it matters to patients and their caregivers, and how people can put eHealth to work so they, and their health care providers, can better manage their health care, while also protecting their privacy.
The web site is intended to be a timely, online resource for New Yorkers to learn about electronic health information networks operated by Regional Health Information Organizations, or RHIOs - that are being developed and going live in a growing number of communities around the state. The website offers people instant access to informational materials about these new eHealth networks and how people can take advantage of their health information exchange (HIE) services to enable their health care providers to share their health information electronically.
People can view and download for free a variety of educational materials, including a brochure (Better Information Means Better Health), video, print and radio ads and other materials produced by the NYS Department of Health. The website also connects people with key eHealth policy decisions and documents, including the state-approved consent form to be used for obtaining individuals' consent for health care providers to see and share their medical records through New Yorks eHealth networks. The site offers a map of the state's many eHealth projects, including RHIOs, and links to RHIOs around the state. People can sign up at the site to join the Consumer Network for eHealth to receive news alerts about eHealth developments within the state, and nationally.
Ehealth4ny is part of a larger initiative headed by the Legal Action Center in our Consumer Education and Engagement for eHealth Project, which is participating in a larger collaborative effort with New York's Department of Health and the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) to reach out to the public about the power of eHealth to improve people's health care. A Consumer Advisory Council on eHealth, comprised of leading consumer and health advocacy organizations in New York, is serving as the advisory body for our statewide consumer education and engagement initiatives, and is providing invaluable guidance and expertise to all the public/private partners involved in these efforts.
For more information, please visit us at www.ehealth4ny.org or contact Kayla McPherson, Program Coordinator, at info@ehealth4ny.org or by phone at (212) 243-1313 ext. 153.