The New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) has announced that starting April 13, New Yorkers across the state are invited and encouraged to start voting for their favorite patient portal designs online. Once built, the portal will be a website where New Yorkers can securely access their healthcare records from their healthcare providers. The portal will begin to be available to the public in 2014. 

To build an innovative design that New Yorkers can easily use, NYeC ran a design challenge, asking designers and developers to submit portal prototypes. Now, the general public is being asked to vote on which designs they like best—helping to shape the future of healthcare in New York State.

“The Patient Portal was created with one goal in mind: to make it easier for any patient to access their medical records online,” David Whitlinger, executive director of the New York eHealth Collaborative, said in a statement. “The patient portal is being designed by New Yorkers, for New Yorkers, tapping into the innovative, creative, and community spirit of New Yorkers.”

New Yorkers will have from April 13 until April 23 to vote for their favorite portals online at www.patientportalfornewyorkers.org based on user friendliness, format, and design. The prototypes with the strongest responses will be invited to present their project at two different public presentations—New York City, N.Y. on April 30, and Buffalo, N.Y. on May 2.^.

After first, second, and third place winners are announced in early May, NYeC will begin building the portal and coordinate its function on top of the Statewide Health Information Network of New York (SHIN-NY), a secure network for sharing clinical patient data across New York State via regional health information organizations (RHIOs).

The patient portal for New Yorkers will allow New Yorkers full access to their health records online safely and securely. Once patients log into the portal, they will be able see a list of people who have viewed their medical records, as well as grant access to select providers to view their medical records online. The final patient portal will comply with all national and federal policies and standards to ensure that all personal health data and information remains private and secure.