Why A Grocery Chain Supports Health Data Liquidity

The CEO of a family-owned grocery store chain wrote a letter to New York State lawmakers to support $65 million worth of spending on a computer system for health information in the state.

That grocer is Danny Wegman, and that project is the Statewide Health Information Network, aka SHIN-NY.

In his letter beginning, “Dear New York Legislator,” Wegman identifies several benefits he expects would flow out of the health IT project:

1. Improve health care for all New Yorkers

2. Lower health care costs, through reducing hospital readmission rates and reducing duplicate testing.

3. Lead to health data “liquidity” (my word).