The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) today announced the launch of HHC Connectx, a new service program that offers local community physicians an online link to refer patients to HHC’s hospital-based specialty services, access to clinical best practices and patient education tools, and secure patient information exchange between community providers and HHC’s 11 hospitals.

"Community physicians also treat many of the 1.3 million patients we serve. Many of these local physician practices are not aware of the extensive and high quality specialty services available to all New Yorkers and the ease in which their patients can readily access those services," said HHC President Alan D. Aviles. "With HHC Connectx we will strengthen our partnership with community physicians, allow them to leverage many of the benefits our large system has to offer, and ultimately improve patient care through a more collaborative approach. After all, public hospitals and community physicians share an important responsibility of managing the care of patients who live and receive treatment in the communities we serve."

Physicians participating in HHC Connectx will benefit from services designed to serve community practices by receiving efficient and coordinated access to HHC’s facilities. The program offers member physicians and their staff:

• A convenient and easy-to-use web-based tool for referral management and patient tracking
• Direct access to HHC’s extensive specialty care centers and Centers of Excellence including the Queens Hospital Cancer Center, Jacobi Hospital Burn Center, Harlem Hospital Stroke Center and Kings County Hospital Parkinson’s Disease Center
• Fast return of critical diagnostic test results and consultation reports
• A single point of contact to help navigate and simplify the patient’s experience in HHC hospitals
• Medical education opportunities, including presentations by leading clinicians on the latest medical advances and best practices
• Notifications sent when their patients miss an appointment with our specialists

"HHC Connectx is the link between my office and Kings County Hospital Center," said Dr. Anatole Barkan, a physician at Be Well Primary Health Care Center, LLC, a community physician practice. "Derrick Bailey, our Provider Relations Specialist, really knows me, my staff and my patients. It makes us feel like we are part of one medical team serving the central Brooklyn community."

Building on its initial success as a pilot program at Queens Health Network, HHC Connectx has grown to include a member network of nearly 3,200 community-based providers across the city that facilitated more than 67,000 referrals in 2007. HHC Connectx is a centralized service program that aims to enhance and strengthen HHC’s existing community relationships, as well as expand the network of healthcare providers who work with and refer patients to HHC hospitals.

Among the many benefits of HHC Connectx, community doctors and health care providers will have access to the new online referral system, HHCAdvantage. Participating physicians will be able to connect to the online service via HHC’s Web site. The Web based program provides community physicians with:

• 24-hour online access to specialty-consult reports and diagnostic test results
• A secure and real-time vehicle for patient tracking and patient information transfers
• Patient education tools and clinical best-practice guidelines

"HHCAdvantage enables us to deliver a high level of quality service to community physicians who want to refer patients to our specialty care services," said Irene Kaufmann, Senior Assistant VP, HHC Connectx. "By computerizing the referral process and eliminating cumbersome paper documents we can accurately track every patient who is referred to one of our hospitals and can then provide the community-based doctor the clinical feedback they need to deliver care. HHC Connectx enables us to truly partner with community doctors and improve the continuity of care we deliver to our patients."

Community healthcare providers interested in participating in HHC Connectx can visit nyc.gov/hhcconnectx or call (646) 458-2080.

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), the largest municipal hospital and health care system in the country, is a $5.4 billion public benefit corporation that serves 1.3 million New Yorkers and nearly 400,000 who are uninsured. HHC provides medical, mental health and substance abuse services through its 11 acute care hospitals, four skilled nursing facilities, six large diagnostic and treatment centers and more than 80 community based health centers. For more information about HHC, visit www.nyc.gov/hhc.