As digital health transformation progresses, some states are looking to drive interoperability through data sharing frameworks.
The California Health and Human Services Data Exchange Framework (DxF), for example, aims to support California's plans for transforming healthcare, expanding care access and improving interoperability between healthcare and social service providers.
State law required many healthcare and social service providers to sign a Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) for the DxF by January 31, 2023, and fully implement the framework by January 31, 2024. Organizations can either use a qualified health information organization (QHIO) as a data exchange intermediary or share data through other means that comply with the DSA.
However, HIE is easier said than done for some organizations.
According to 2021 American Hospital Association survey data, small and rural hospitals are less likely to participate in HIE networks than medium and large hospitals due to fewer economic and technological resources.
"Areas where organizations are under-resourced may not have sophisticated technology stacks and have been left out of data sharing frameworks and structures for a very, very long time," said Erica Galvez, CEO of Manifest MedEx, a nonprofit HIE network in California.
"We have been pushing the need for California to establish a health data safety net for a while now," Galvez noted. "What I mean by that is a pathway for every provider in the state to be able to share information for their patients. We have massive gaps in that infrastructure today."
