N.Y. Health IT group gets $35m boost to build infrastructure

The New York eHealth Collaborative, a public-private partnership focused on improving healthcare quality, safety and efficiency, announced yesterday the infusion of a $35 million grant and the appointment a new executive director.

Mr. David L. Whitlinger will serve as NYeC’s new executive director and will use his history at Intel and his knowledge of electronic health records to help the organization build a 21st century healthcare information highway in New York. And the task of building that infrastructure will be aided by the $35 million grant from the State of New York through Phase 10 of the Healthcare Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers (HEAL 10).

“New York State and NYeC are at a critical crossroads,” Carol Raphael, NYeC board chair said, adding that the funds will help create a flexible, interoperable health IT network capable of interacting with the federal government. Ms. Raphael said the federal government was preparing to “invest heavily in state-based health information exchanges and adoption programs,” and that investments like the HEAL 10 grant will play a central role in facilitating improvements in the nation’s healthcare system.

As part of Mr. Witlinger’s ten years experience in health IT, he founded the Continua Health Alliance, an industry alliance of more than 200 healthcare companies developing interoperability for personal health devices and services. He has also worked extensively on health IT standards development and coordination of health policy.

“David Whitlinger brings a unique set of skills and experiences that I believe will help NYeC and the state accelerate the realization of a higher quality, patient-centered and more efficient health care system for all New Yorkers,” Ms. Raphael said.

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