It's been an elusive goal for decades, an online system allowing doctors to quickly access a patient's entire health history. The goal is to make finding patients' records easier and cut down on unnecessary treatments. Health Reporter takes a look at the massive project soon to go online in New York and filed the following report.

On July 1 the state will begin stitching together a statewide electronic health records system called the SHIN-NY - short for Statewide Health Information Network of New York. It's a multi-step process starting with the nearly decades' long work of building regional networks.

"Those eight different regions have been actively working with all the health care providers in their community to try to get them connected, sharing data, and they've established nonprofit corporations with board of directors and policies," explains David Whitlinger, Executive Director of the New York eHealth Collaborative.

Health-IX is the network managing patients' records in the city and on Long Island.

The next step is connecting all the regional networks.

"Let's think of telephone wires, the telephone wires'll be up in place until July 1. But that doesn't mean anyone's talking yet," says Patrick Roohan, Director of the New York State Department of Health's Office of Quality and Patient Safety.

By September, doctors in a Buffalo emergency department should be able to access a patient's recent lab work recorded by physicians in Brooklyn.

"The idea being that if we could get records moving across the state, there'd be efficiencies in the health care delivery system," says Whitlinger.

The more than $600 million project is being handled by the privately run New York e-Health Collaborative - led by David Whitlinger and the state Health Department's Patrick Roohan.

Both men say there's still lots to work out.

"The onus is really on adoption. 'Okay, we have this built now, now we know it works, how do we get the providers to not only connect to it, but to use it?" says Roohan.

So far, 80 to 90 percent of hospitals are connected with only 34 percent of New Yorkers signing consent forms allowing doctors to access records.

They're also struggling to get private doctors on board and to integrate their records systems.

The quality of the records being shared are also a concern.

"They might not be sharing all of their data, or all of the data we need in order for it to be meaningful. So this will take time, it'll take time in order for it to grow in value over the next couple of years," notes Whitlinger.