Axolotl Announces SHIN-NY Development Team, Dedicated to the Implementation of a State-wide Health Information Network for New York.

Experienced Health Information Exchange Engineers to Connect New York for Improved Patient Care

SAN JOSE, Calif., & NEW YORK -- Axolotl Corp., the leader in health information exchange (HIE) solutions and services, announced today, the creation of a SHIN-NY development team, dedicated to work with the New York Department of Health and the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) to help define the architecture and build the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY). This work will be undertaken in collaboration with Axolotl's New York Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs), to meet their goals of improving patient care and reducing health care costs through secure electronic health information exchange (HIE).

"We are excited that vendors like Axolotl are being so proactive in the planning and implementation of the SHIN-NY," shared Rachel Block, Executive Director of New York eHealth Collaborative. "Their knowledge and experience will help guide us to our planned, fully interoperable health environment, improving health care quality, affordability and outcomes for New Yorkers."

"New York has been a pioneer in HIE, understanding its long term benefits, navigating through the complexities and supporting regional initiatives for its medical trading areas," said Ray Scott, CEO of Axolotl. "Some of Axolotl's most experienced engineers have been helping the New York Department of Health and the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) define the architecture for statewide clinical connectivity. We are excited by the progress made to date, and the thought that all involved will be able to contribute to national policies and standards, from real world experience."

SHIN-NY is the foundation of the State's technical infrastructure and will allow clinicians and consumers to make timely, fact-based decisions that will reduce medical errors and redundant tests, and improve the quality and coordination of care. The SHIN-NY will utilize the internet and include specialized software protocols and services, including security tools, and will be a part of the emerging Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN).

Axolotl's SHIN-NY development team brings an unprecedented depth of HIE knowledge and experience to bear on the New York projects. Sean Smith, who leads the four person team, graduated Summa Cum Laude from LeTourneau University, one of the best engineering programs in the nation. Among other accomplishments, Sean spent the last two years developing Axolotl's Information Health Exchange (IHE) prototypes and product components, as well as Axolotl's award winning Elysium EdgeServer. The results of Sean's work have been demonstrated at the IHE Connectathon, HIMSS Interoperability showcase, and the National Health Information Network (NHIN2) exposition.

Sean will be supported by Justin Pun, an MIT graduate, who helped develop IHE profiles, the NHIN demonstration projects, and Axolotl's clinical document registry and repository, which utilizes Cross-Enterprise Document Sharing (XDS) and Cross Community Access (XCA) profiles. Justin also played a crucial role in developing interoperability services for Axolotl's e-Prescribing offerings. Both Sean and Justin will be demonstrating Axolotl's technology at the 2009 HIMSS Interoperability Showcase, April 5 through 8 in Chicago, IL.

The Axolotl SHIN-NY team will report to Lin Wan, PhD. Lin has been with Axolotl for over ten years, contributing greatly to the development of the Elysium product suite, which she now manages. "Lin has established an excellent reputation for herself and for Axolotl with the NYeC and NY DoH personnel," said Scott. "She has extensive HIE experience and a special enthusiasm for improving patient care through timely and secure information access."

In addition to other statewide initiatives, Axolotl powers Rochester RHIO, HealtheLink, the Western New York clinical information exchange, and the Interboro RHIO, in New York State. Clinicians electronically receive clinical information directly into their EMRs or Axolotl's EMR Lite, a cost effective, web based application with ePrescribing and ordering. Axolotl's Elysium Virtual Health Record (VHR) allows providers to share records across institutions and practices, making patient information available wherever and whenever needed, to provide the best care.

About Axolotl Corp

Founded in 1995, Axolotl Corp. is North America's leading provider of browser-based products and services for secure health information exchange and management. Its award-winning Elysium[R] Exchange suite of solutions enables healthcare providers to instantly share information, reduce costs, and improve quality and efficiency.

Today Elysium helps thousands of healthcare entities--including hospitals, health systems, regional health information organizations (RHIOs/HIEs), clinics, laboratories, radiology centers and physician practices--securely exchange clinical information for more than 25 million patients. Elysium's community-wide Master Patient Index, EdgeServer(s), Interoperability Hub (I-Hub), Community Virtual Health Record, and EMR Lite with integrated e-prescribing are all provided as a software service (Saas). In addition, Axolotl-employed U.S.-based transcriptionists provide high-quality medical transcription services, rapid turnaround and total billing transparency using Elysium technology for report delivery.

Axolotl is based in San Jose and best known for introducing Clinical Messaging[R], now at the heart of all health information exchange. For more information about Axolotl, see www.axolotl.com.