GNYHA recently hosted a webinar on tools that hospitals can use to share health-related social need (HRSN) screening data. Qualified entities (QEs) Healthix and Hixny developed these information-sharing tools as alternative means that do not require hospitals to purchase the technology used by Social Care Networks (SCNs). SCNs are regional networks created under New York State’s Section 1115 Medicaid waiver that connect Medicaid beneficiaries to the social services they need. QEs are not-for-profit organizations that operate regional health information exchanges established to securely share patient data among health care providers through the Statewide Health Information Network for New York. Some QE tools integrate directly with electronic health records (EHRs).
Both tools presented are available at no cost to hospitals already connected to a QE. Providers using the QE tools to submit data are eligible for reimbursement for HRSN screening.
Hixny’s Julia Prusik, Director of Product Development, and Bryan Cudmore, Vice President of Account Management, demonstrated its Snapshot Application, through which providers can directly screen patients. Hixny is also working on a hybrid version that will allow providers to send the screening to a patient before the visit and then review the responses during the visit. Healthix President and Chief Executive Officer Todd Rogow discussed the various ways hospitals can use its Concise Application and other resources to share HRSN data. Both the Hixny and Healthix tools allow the screening to be uploaded as a PDF to the EHR and saved in the patient’s medical record.