NYAPRS Note: The long-awaited draft rules on health information sharing have been offered for public comment by DOH. Though information sharing is crucial to integrated and improved behavioral health, there are protections that must be in place in electronic health records to ensure individuals are not stigmatized because of their diagnosis or treatment. NYAPRS will be reviewing these draft rules for comment to DOH. See the link below to read the draft and submit comments by 10/20 to DOH.
SHIN-NY Draft Rules Issued
Crain’s Health Pulse; 9/8/2014
At long last, the state Department of Health has issued draft rules for the Statewide Health Information Network of New York, or SHIN-NY, which will allow information-sharing across electronic health records throughout the state. The rules would allow the New York eHealth Collaborative, the nonprofit that has been developing the SHIN-NY, to now operate it. Publicly regulated health care providers and private practitioners using certified electronic health records will be required to connect to the SHIN-NY. That task will cost $75,000 apiece for hospitals, $5,000 to $10,000 for private practices and somewhere in between for nursing homes and home care agencies, DOH estimates. The SHIN-NY itself will cost $70 million a year to maintain. Entities that connect to the SHIN-NY will have to meet interoperability and other standards. They also will be able to disseminate patient information among different health care providers without getting that patient’s consent, as long as they follow HIPAA and other federal laws, according to the draft rules. The new rules are open for public comment until Oct. 20, although no hearings are planned. GNYHA and HANYS each said they support the broad intent of the regulations, although HANYS will press DOH on the “sustainability and practicality” of the technical requirements and financial regulations for the network, according to a spokeswoman.
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140908/PULSE/140909887/health-care-s-nonlobbying-lobbyists