Information for Patients

A healthcare provider can better care for you when they have important information about your medical history such as your health problems, test results, allergies, and past and present medications. Healthcare providers sometimes use fax or postal mail to request and receive health information. This can be time consuming and makes it difficult to control who reads a fax or opens a piece of mail, making information sent by fax or postal mail less safe and protected.

The Mass HIway (pronounced “mass highway”) is the shortened name for the statewide network designed to make the process of sharing healthcare information faster and safer for Massachusetts residents. The Mass HIway can help healthcare providers on your healthcare team connect with each other rand securely send and receive your health information. The goal of the Mass HIway is better healthcare coordination and higher quality healthcare for you and all residents of the Commonwealth.

The Mass HIway may be used by healthcare organizations including healthcare provider offices, clinics, hospitals, and health insurers for information sharing as allowed by law; to plan treatment, to get payment from insurance companies, and to complete clerical operations, like reporting care quality.

Click here for more information about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

IMPORTANT THINGS FOR YOU TO KNOW

  • Your medical record itself is not part of and will not become part of the Mass HIway. Your medical record is stored by your healthcare provider and your healthcare organization, the same way it has always been stored.
     
  • If you have an error in your medical record, speak with your healthcare provider or your healthcare provider’s office staff to have it corrected.
     
  • The Mass HIway cannot see any of your healthcare information sent via the network since all healthcare information sent is locked and encrypted (coded).
     
  • The Mass HIway is not a database of health information.
     
  • The Mass HIway is not an electronic health record system.

HOW DOES THE MASSHIWAY HELP ME?

  • If you have been admitted, transferred or discharged from a Massachusetts hospital and are going for a follow-up appointment to a healthcare provider, the hospital can use the Mass HIway to send your healthcare providers information about your hospital stay. This can free up time during your follow up visit so that you and your healthcare provider can discuss follow up care instead of dealing with paperwork.
     
  • If you have had medical tests, healthcare providers can use the Mass HIway to send the results to other members of your healthcare team, like your specialists. This can help them coordinate your healthcare. It can also save you time and money by reducing the need for duplicative tests.
     
  • If you have a chronic medical condition, your health insurer’s case manager can use the Mass HIway to communicate with your healthcare providers to coordinate your care and help you stay healthy.
     
  • Not all healthcare providers are using the Mass HIway yet. There will be more benefits for you as more healthcare providers and organizations use the Mass HIway.

DOES THE MASS HIWAY PROTECT MY INFORMATION?

The Mass HIway has security measures in place to protect your healthcare information. Many of the data breaches you hear about occur because healthcare information is being shared using insecure methods like: like faxes, postal mail, or portable media storage methods like USB (flash drives). Mass HIway Security measures include:

  • Encrypting data by using special coding so that only authorized healthcare providers can read the information sent over the Mass HIway
  • Ensuring that users t have valid usernames and strong passwords, and that healthcare organizations using the Mass HIway have signed contracts to make sure they follow all state and federal laws to protect your healthcare information.

         and that

        Requiring that you need to give special permission for providers to request and receive certain sensitive information Such as: HIV and genetic testing results.

HOW DO I GET MORE INFORMATION?

  • Talk with your healthcare provider or their office staff about how they are using the Mass HIway.

  • Email us at masshiway@state.ma.us

  • Call 1-855-MA HIway (624-4929) and press option 3

FACT SHEET FOR PATIENTS

To download the Mass HIway's Fact Sheet for Patients, either click here or on the picture below.

 

Patient Fact Sheet