By Al Bradley, Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency, Nancy M. Bennett, MD, Center for Community Health, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York
For the past nine years, the Rochester Business Alliance (RBA) – the chamber of commerce for the Rochester, New York/Finger Lakes region – has taken an active role in health care issues. The region’s largest employers formed the Health Care Planning Team to identify strategies to improve health and reduce costs.The team promoted a community-wide employee wellness program, “Eat Well Live Well,” to encourage physical activity and healthy nutrition and helped to launch the Rochester's regional health information organization (RHIO), which provides a secure electronic health information exchange for the area.