News Feature | August 6, 2014

HIE Improves Disease Surveillance

Katie Wike

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

Disease Surveillance With HIE

The Buffalo, NY region has experienced a positive effect on disease surveillance since implementation of the state health information exchange, HEALTHeLINK.

Western New York State is experiencing significant improvements in disease reporting thanks to the state’s health information exchange, HEALTHeLINK. Health Data Management reports the Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) has leveraged the HIE to successfully improve its STD reporting throughout the county and track the spread of disease.

“The percentage of reported chlamydia cases with unknown treatment in Erie County decreased from 46 percent in 2006 to 8 percent in 2012,” said the exchange in a press release. “In addition, HEALTHeLINK use results in more STD contacts brought into care to prevent the spread of disease throughout the community. This marks a 27 percent increase since HEALTHeLINK use began.”

“Having secure access to public health statistics and other data provides our public health practitioners with important and timely information to help them understand where we need to focus our attention in providing health care resources and education,” said Gale Burstein, MD, MPH, ECDOH Commissioner. “Our ongoing prevention efforts related to STDs have been aided by our collaboration with HEALTHeLINK which has become a valuable tool in our efforts to provide the public with more efficient care.”

Because of the HIE, the county has seen a significant reduction in the time it takes for disease intervention, including the identification of treatments, contacts and cases.

“Being able to access real time information is translating into improvements for accurate and efficient STD identification, more timely treatment, and a reduction in the spread of the disease. So while we talk about cost savings, which is important, you cannot calculate the cost savings of preventing the spread of diseases,” said Daniel E. Porreca, HEALTHeLINK’s executive director. “Our collaboration with the Erie County Department of Health is just one example of how HEALTHeLINK is continuing to build a strong health information technology infrastructure and testing innovative approaches in order to provide better care and outcomes as well as cost savings.”