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Successfully Harnessing Thousands of Consents for Improved Care

Consent Drives Informed Care

Successfully Harnessing Thousands of Consents for Improved Care

Mitchell A. Adler, MD, CMIO of Northwell Health Physician Partners, describes how Northwell Health faced a daunting task: how to champion patient consent collection across a massive health care system to improve care management, coordination and outcomes. It was a challenge, but one that demanded a solution for the sake of better patient care. When providers are granted access to patient records in Healthix, they gain a comprehensive view of a person’s medical history and are better informed to deliver care.

In New York State, patients must grant consent for providers to access their health records from other organizations. The good news is, most patients want their doctors to have this information. Northwell had struggled with collecting patient consents due to a large number of decentralized registration points. Their process pains were finally alleviated when the IT department implemented a centralized approach using a simple consent checkbox within their registration systems. Also, thanks to Healthix’ enhanced patient registration initiative, Northwell consents, from all facilities, are transmitted directly into Healthix, allowing doctors immediate access to patient records.

“This is an exciting development, enabling hassle-free consent collection across the entire Northwell system,”

– Mitchell A. Adler, MD, CMIO of Northwell Health
Physician Partners

Previously, consents were manually entered at facilities, a time-intensive process often avoided, depriving physicians access to their patients’ information in Healthix. Today, with improved workflows, Northwell captures more than 1,000 consents daily.

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