2011 California Health Information Exchange Stakeholder Summit

More than 300 people attended the one-day event November 8 in Sacramento designed for stakeholders involved in improving healthcare through the electronic exchange of critical patient information. The Cal eConnect Web site contains complete information on the sessions including all the PowerPoint presentations.
The primary objectives for the summit were to help stakeholders understand how they and their organizations fit into the big picture of health information exchange (HIE) in California; enable stakeholders to learn about assets and services available in California that are key to planning for clinical and administrative integration; and provide a way for stakeholders to have a voice in shaping the future of HIE in the State.

Cal eConnect serves as the state’s governance entity for Health Information Exchange. As such, Cal eConnect is responsible for meeting requirements set forth in the State’s grant agreement with the Federal Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). As part of its agreement with the California Health and Human Services Agency, Cal eConnect is charged with enabling electronic health information exchange through governance, project management, policy development, the development of core technical infrastructure, the development of a financial sustainability plan, and stakeholder engagement.

One of the important questions asked was, what do stakeholders need and want from Cal eConnect as the state’s governance entity? The Summit provided a unique opportunity for the full range of HIE stakeholders to get questions answered and to present their opinions and ideas in a live, interactive collaborative setting. Breakout sessions offered stakeholders an opportunity to have their voices heard on specific parts of the next generation of California’s Strategic and Operational Plans. The goal is to ensure that the appropriate policies and services are available to advance HIE throughout the state. Feedback collected will influence the final plan submitted to the Office of the National Coordinator.

Breakout sessions covered:
Governance – this session collected feedback on the consensus framework, California HIE data participation agreements, an HIE accreditation program, and other related issues.
Coordination – which obtained feedback on how to reach an understanding of HIE activity and capacity at the state and county levels, to identify initiatives and assets that can be leveraged, and organizing around collaborative efforts.

Technical Assistance—focused on prioritizing expert support services Cal eConnect could provide for developing or selecting solutions to common problems and issues faced by stakeholder groups.

Promoting Interoperability and HIE and The Role of the Regional Extension Centers (RECs) – asked participants for feedback on the role they see the RECs playing in two important areas: promoting interoperability within the EHR vendor marketplace through their role as market aggregators and assisting providers at the practice level to exchange health information once an EHR is installed.

How State Government Can Use HIE to Meet Data Needs – focused on identifying ways in which state government is able to use HIE to meet its mandated data requirements.
Technology – Emerging Standards – this session was for technically-oriented participants and discussed coordinated technical standardization.

Several CHIA members including CHIA Executive Director, LaVonne LaMoureaux, RHIA, CAE; Pamela Lane, MS RHIA, CPHIMS, Rhonda Anderson, RHIA, and Dorothy Hendrix, M.Ed, RHIT, and Cheri Huber attended the summit to participate in shaping the future of HIE in California.

CHIA encourages HIM professionals to sign up to receive the Cal eConnect RSS Feeds (click on the RSS Feed icon at the top right of the Cal eConnect website) and to participate in the HIE discussions and activities within your organization.