New York Tech CEOs Throw Support Behind the Statewide Health Information Network of New York (the SHIN-NY)

Nearly 80 Top New York Companies Call on State Legislature to Back Governor’s Funding for the SHIN-NY, Boosting Health IT Innovation Throughout the State

New York – Today, nearly 80 members of New York’s growing tech community put their support behind the Statewide Health Information Network of New York, the SHIN-NY, which allows patients and providers around the state to view their electronic health records.

Citing continued growth to New York’s booming technology sector, the group sent a letter to the State Legislature urging them to authorize Governor Cuomo’s $45 million proposed budget for the SHIN-NY.

By funding the SHIN-NY, the group writes that New York will “establish the first large network for health information exchange in the country,” and “help catalyze innovation among digital health start-ups.”

In 2015, the SHIN-NY will interlink nine separate regional networks to become a “network of networks,” making electronic health records widely accessible to patients and their doctors throughout New York State. By creating broader access to clinical information, the SHIN-NY has the potential to dramatically reduce hospital re-admissions and inefficiencies in the system such as costly and unnecessary duplicate tests. Already, more than 50,000 doctors and healthcare providers participate in the SHIN-NY and over 7 million New Yorkers have given consent for their medical records to be shared.

This year’s budget will help accelerate adoption and usage of the SHIN-NY and make a core set of standard services available and free to all of its participants. The State Legislature will need to approve the Governor’s proposed budget for the SHIN-NY by March 31st to make this a reality.

By increasing access to electronic health records, the group adds that the SHIN-NY will “help catalyze innovation among digital health start-ups for new solutions to help maximize the use of the newly available data.”

The group calls the network “a focal point for new investment in the State.” A full list of signees is included below.

The SHIN-NY is coordinated by the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC). The network will be overseen by the New York State Department of Health and will be governed by federal HIPAA and State privacy and security policies and standards.

Full Text of Letter:

Dear New York State Legislature:

New York has a successful and rapidly growing health information technology sector. We have an opportunity to continue this growth – and create good-paying jobs around the state by increasing access to electronic health records. Moreover, making electronic health records widely accessible to patients and their doctors will help to drive the market for innovative products and services like the ones we and many other New York tech companies offer.

As you may know, Governor Cuomo’s proposed budget includes $45 million for the Statewide Health Information Network of New York (the SHIN-NY), which is comprised of nine individual, regional Qualified Entities (QEs), formerly known as Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs). Since its founding, the SHIN-NY has made important progress, Today, more than 50,000 doctors and healthcare providers participate in the SHIN-NY and over 7 million New Yorkers have given consent for their medical records to be shared.

The SHIN-NY is a “network of networks” connecting electronic health records so patients and doctors can securely access their clinical health information at no charge. This year is a critical year for the SHIN-NY. The nine regional QEs have operated independently of each other until this point. This year, however, thanks to support of the State, all nine will be interconnected so that patients and doctors can instantly access their records no matter where they live or work in New York State.

This year’s budget appropriation will also help accelerate adoption and usage of the network, making a core set of standard services available and free to all participants. These “Dial Tone” services will allow doctors to look-up individual patient records through a secure search engine, exchange direct messages with other doctors, and receive alerts when their patients have an important event such as entering an emergency room or being discharged from a hospital.

Not only will the SHIN-NY save hundreds of millions of dollars across the state through reduced re-admissions and elimination of redundant tests, but it will also help catalyze innovation among digital health start-ups for new solutions to help maximize the use of the newly available data.

With venture funding in digital health startups up by +228% and reaching $4-6 billion over the past year, including $722 million in New York City alone, the SHIN-NY will be a focal point for new investment in the State.

We encourage you to support innovation and the tech sector in New York State by funding the SHIN-NY, and establishing the first large health information exchange in the country.

Thank you,

Anish Sebastian
Co-Founder
1EQ

Juan Pablo Segura
Co-Founder & President
1EQ

Patricia Meisner
CEO and Co-Founder
ActualMeds

Clifford Jones
CEO
Allazo Health

Thor Erenstein
CEO
Alpha UX

Bezalel Arkush
Founder and CEO
Alvio by QoL Devices

Jonathon Feit
Co-Founder & CEO
Beyond Lucid

Sunny Saxena
Associate
BioAdvance

Jean-Luc Neptune
Executive Director – Accelerator Leader
BluePrint Health

Sarah Krug
CEO
Cancer 101

Jerrit Tan
CEO
Canopy Apps

Andrey Ostresky
Co-Founder and CEO
Care at Hand

Vineet Singal
CEO
CareMessage

Atul Kumar, MD
CEO
CaseAtlas

Randy Cheung
Co-Founder
CipherHealth

Zach Silverzweig
Co-Founder
CipherHealth

Kobi Margolin
Co-Founder & CEO
Clinigence

Melissa Manice
Co-Founder, CEO
CoheroHealth

Daniel Weinstein
Co-Founder, COO
CoheroHealth

Cora Alisuag
President & CEO
CoraNet

Deborah Estrin
Professor of Computer Science
Cornell Tech

Bilal Hashmat
CEO
Cure MD

Joseph Mayer
Co-Founder & CEO
Cureatr

Talya Miron-Shatz
Co-Founder and CEO
CureMyWay

Robert Herzog
Founder & CEO
eCaring

Mike Gerstenfeld
Founder
Ensa

Robert Loftin
Founder, CEO, President,
EXIM Services of North America, Inc.

Dov Biran
Co-Founder & CEO
Fitango

Victor Wang
Founder and CEO
GeriJoy

Matthew Holt
Co-Chairman
Health 2.0

Indu Subaiya
Co-Chairman
Health 2.0

Alex Fair
Organizer
Health 2.0 NYC

Jarrett Bauer
Co-Founder & CEO
Health Recovery Solutions

Amnon Keynan
Founder & CEO
Helarium

Peggy Lucas
Senior Director, Sales & Marketing
HiNext

Chris Burrow
EVP, Medical Affairs
Humetrix

Terrance Bynum
Chief Executive Officer
IMMINENT Analytics

Tal Eidelberg
Founder and CEO
Intrigma Inc.

Ze Jiang
Co-Founder & CEO
iQuartic
Lou LaRocca
CEO
J2 Interactive

Oakkar Oakkar
CEO
Keona Health

Chris Millet
CEO and Co-Founder
Lazy

Sara Holoubek
CEO
Lumninary Labs

Amy Cueva
CEO
Mad*Pow

Chris Bradley
CEO
Mana Health

Nathanael Geman
Co-Founder and CEO
Med Nexus, Inc.

Eyal Efrat
CEO
MedCPU

Sonia Ben-Yehuda
President
MedCPU

Yoni Ben-Yehuda
Vice President of Marketing
MedCPU

Gary Cuthbert
President
Medent

Virgil Wong
CEO
Medical Avatar

Anand Prabhu
Founder and CEO
MediPortal

Omri ‘Bob’ Shor
Co-Founder & CEO
MediSafe

Hoda Sayed-Friel
Executive Vice President
MEDITECH

Oren Fuerst
Chairman & Co-Founder
Medivizor

Alex Fair
CEO
Medstartr

H. Tsvi Goldenberg, PhD
CEO
MessageDoc

Sanjai Murali
Founder and CEO
Neural Therapeutics

Philippe Chambon
Founder, Managing Director
New Leaf Ventures

Noel Khirsukhani
SVP, Healthcare Solutions
Noom

Scott Stedman
Founder
Northside Media

Jackie Arnett
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Nutrify

Beatrice Ellerin
President
NYC Health Business Leaders

Yaron Levinson
Founder & CEO
Paragon Measure

Ed Shin
Co-Founder & CEO
Quality Reviews

Mike LaRocca
CEO
Ready Computing

Jen van der Meer
Founder & CEO
Reason Street

Eric Leven
President
Rip Road

Dave Dickey
CEO
Second Story Sales

Stan Berkow
Founder & CEO
Sense Health

Divya Dhar
Co-Founder
Seratis

Darren Conte
Founder, CEO
Siftsort

Raj Lakhanpal
Founder & CEO
SpectraMedix

Salim Kizaraly
SVP, Business Development and Founder
Stella Technology

Alex Alexander
CEO
TenEleven Group

Jim Litterer
General Manager
Vital Health Images

Jason Huddleston
EVP of Sales
Vital Health Images

Hilary Hatch, PhD
Founder and CEO
Vital Score

Marty Jaramillo
Founder & CEO
YingoYango

Ramesh Kumar
Co-Founder & CEO
ZakiPoint

About The New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC):
NYeC is a not-for-profit organization, working in partnership with the New York State Department of Health to improve healthcare for all New Yorkers through health information technology (health IT). Founded in 2006 by healthcare leaders, NYeC receives funding from state and federal grants to serve as the focal point for health IT in the State of New York. NYeC works to develop policies and standards, to assist healthcare providers in making the shift to electronic health records, and to coordinate the creation of the Statewide Health Information Network of New York (SHIN-NY), a network to connect healthcare providers statewide. www.nyehealth.org & @NYeHealth