title: Geographical distribution of patients visiting a health information exchange in New York City.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  For a health information exchange (HIE) organization to succeed in any given region, it is important to understand the optimal catchment area for the patient population it is serving. The objective of this analysis was to understand the geographical distribution of the patients being served by one HIE organization in New York City (NYC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Patient demographic data were obtained from the New York Clinical Information Exchange (NYCLIX), a regional health information organization (RHIO) representing most of the major medical centers in the borough of Manhattan in NYC. Patients' home address zip codes were used to create a research dataset with aggregate counts of patients by US county and international standards organization country. Times Square was designated as the geographical center point of the RHIO for distance calculations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most patients (87.7%) live within a 30 mile radius from Times Square and there was a precipitous drop off of patients visiting RHIO-affiliated facilities at distances greater than 100 miles. 43.6% of patients visiting NYCLIX facilities were from the other NYC boroughs rather than from Manhattan itself (31.9%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most patients who seek care at members of NYCLIX live within a well-defined area and a clear decrease in patients visiting NYCLIX sites with distance was identified. Understanding the geographical distribution of patients visiting the large medical centers in the RHIO can inform the RHIO's planning as it looks to add new participant organizations in the surrounding geographical area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA. arit.onyile@mountsinai.org
authors.forename: Arit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Onyile
authors.forename: Sandip R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Vaidya
authors.forename: Gilad
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kuperman
authors.forename: Jason S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Shapiro
mesh_terms: D057171:American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D063005:Health Information Systems; D062265:Health Insurance Exchanges / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D009519:New York City; D012041:Regional Medical Programs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States
keywords: Health Information Exchange (HIE); Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO); cluster analysis; patient geographical distribution; regional health planning