Close to 9 million New Yorkers have authorized healthcare professionals in the state to electronically share their medical records on the Statewide Health Information Network for New York, reports Buffalo Business Journal.
The statewide HIE was created in 2006 by eight regional organizations. According to the report, 95 percent of patients asked if they'd like to opt-in to sharing their data on the HIE choose to do so. Those who decline are mostly nervous about data privacy and security, according to the report.
However, Anthony Billittier IV, MD, who is involved in the HIE, said in the report paper patient records still presented data privacy risks, and the electronic format may actually be safer. "With the records on paper, anyone could look at it. Now there's an electronic fingerprint," he said in the report.
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