The New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII), acting as New Jersey’s State-designated entity on behalf of the New Jersey Department of Health, has received a $2.9 million grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NJII will help the Department of Health ensure the sharing of quality data through its New Jersey Health Information Network (NJHIN).
Currently patients’ electronic health records live in a number of different silos, such as doctors’ offices, hospitals and urgent care facilities, and it is difficult to exchange protected health care information among providers. The grant will allow NJII to develop and manage an accurate and reliable Master Person Index that will house a patient’s records from all of these facilities, with the ability to transmit them to care providers as needed.
The data platform will be rolled out initially to healthcare provider groups in the Newark metro region and expanded over the next few years to facilities throughout the state.
“We’re honored to be recipients of this grant from the HHS and to have the opportunity to put NJII’s innovative technology and services to work in advancing patient care here in New Jersey,” said Donald Sebastian, the president of NJII. Tomas Gregorio, NJII’s senior executive director of healthcare delivery systems, added, “The need for the safe, secure and effective exchange of healthcare information among physicians, hospitals, home health providers and insurers is vital to the wellbeing of the people of New Jersey. We are eager to advance health information technology through this grant.”
“The Department of Health congratulates the New Jersey Innovation Institute on receiving this funding,” said New Jersey Health Commissioner Mary O’Dowd. “With this grant, the Institute will support the further development of the New Jersey Health Information Network, which will expand the use of health information technology and health information exchange to better coordinate patient care in our state.”
The New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) is an NJIT corporation that applies the intellectual and technological resources of the state’s science and technology university to challenges identified by industry partners. Through its Innovation Labs (iLabs), NJII brings NJIT expertise to key economic sectors, including healthcare delivery systems, bio-pharmaceutical production, civil infrastructure, defense and homeland security, and financial services.