September 8, 2025 — The Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY) today announced the pilot launch of Statewide Encounter Alerts, a new SHIN-NY service that delivers real-time notifications when patients experience emergency department (ED) visits, hospital admissions, transfers, or discharges anywhere in New York State.
Statewide Encounter Alerts are designed to improve upon prior iterations of alerts available within the SHIN-NY, eliminating regional blind spots, reducing provider alert fatigue, improving data quality, and giving care teams a consistent experience across the state. This service is also the first of several planned initiatives that will transition the SHIN-NY from a regionally-siloed infrastructure to a truly unified statewide health information exchange (HIE).
The Statewide Encounter Alerts service is available to any SHIN-NY participant and is powered by HealtheConnections and Hixny, the two SHIN-NY qualified entities (QEs) that
have been contracted to deliver alerts for the network. Regardless of a participant’s designated QE, they can receive this statewide service from HealtheConnections or Hixny,
free of charge in most cases, and benefit from a single, statewide alerting framework to better inform clinical decision making and close care gaps.
These alerts can be delivered through most electronic health record systems (EHRs) and incorporated seamlessly into existing provider workflows. Interested participants do not
need to establish any additional integrations with either Hixny or HealtheConnections, and there are no additional patient consent requirements associated with this service.
SHIN-NY statewide encounter alerts are currently being piloted with a diverse sample of healthcare organizations across the state, with alerts being successfully delivered about
hospital and emergency encounters for patients in every New York county. The SHIN-NY anticipates progressive scalability, with the service reaching any and all SHIN-NY
participants during the early part of 2026.
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About the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY)
The Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY) pronounced “shiny”, a network connecting healthcare professionals, health and human services organizations,
public health authorities, and regional health information networks (known as Qualified Entities) across the state to facilitate the secure electronic exchange of patient health information. The New York eHealth Collaborative is a non-profit organization serving as the State Designated Entity (SDE) for health information exchange in partnership with the New York State Department of Health (DOH). NYeC and DOH lead the SHIN-NY. To learn more about the SHIN-NY, visit www.nyehealth.org.
About HealtheConnections
HealtheConnections is a nonprofit organization certified by the New York State Department of Health as a Qualified Entity (QE) within the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY). For more information about how you can receive SHIN-NY Statewide Encounter Alerts powered by HealtheConnections, visit healtheconnections.org.
About Hixny
Hixny is a nonprofit organization certified by the New York State Department of Health as a Qualified Entity (QE) within the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY).
For more information about how you can receive SHIN-NY Statewide Encounter Alerts powered by Hixny, visit hixny.org.
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