The California Health and Human Services (CHHS) agency has created an advisory group that will partner with CHHS and the state’s new Center for Data Insights and Innovation to develop the state’s first-ever healthcare data exchange framework.
The data sharing agreement and common set of policies and procedures will govern the exchange of health information among healthcare entities and government agencies beginning in June 2024.
This new initiative was set in motion with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature on AB 133, legislation that provides CHHS with the authority to establish a Data Exchange Framework that will improve how health information is shared across the health and social services systems. Among the goals are protecting public health, improving care delivery, and guiding policies aimed at caring for the whole person, while maintaining patient privacy, data security, and promoting equity.
CHHS Secretary Mark Ghaly, M.D., M.P.H., announced the members of a Stakeholder Advisory Group that will help develop the framework. The Data Exchange Framework must be finalized by July 1, 2022. The legislation includes a mandate requiring providers’ full participation in the exchange beginning Jan. 31, 2024.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear to Californians how important it is for health data to be quickly and seamlessly shared among health professionals and institutions,” Ghaly said in a statement. “The exchange of health information will be even more critical as the state moves forward with efforts to provide ‘whole person care’ through CalAIM, major new homelessness initiatives, and other programs aimed at connecting health and social services — from Cradle-to-Career to the Master Plan for Aging.”
Members of the Stakeholder Advisory Committee:
- Mark Ghaly (Chair), California Health and Human Services Agency
- Greg A. Adams, Kaiser Permanente
- Jamie Almanza, Bay Area Community Services
- Charles Bacchi, California Association of Health Plans
- Robert Beaudry, California Primary Care Association
- Michelle Doty Cabrera, County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California
- Colleen Chawla, County Health Executives Association of California
- Dustin Corcoran, California Medical Association
- Craig Cornett, California Association of Health Facilities
- Carmela Coyle, California Hospital Association
- Don Crane, Americas Physician Groups
- Liz Gibboney, Partnership HealthPlan of California
- Lori Hack, California Association of Health Information Exchanges
- Alma Hernández, SEIU California
- David Lindeman, UC Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society
- Paul Markovich, Blue Shield of California
- Erica Murray, California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems
- Art Pulaski, California Labor Federation
- Karen Relucio, California Conference of Local Health Officers
- Mark Savage, Savage Consulting
- Kiran Savage-Sangwan, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
- Cathy Senderling-McDonald, County Welfare Directors Association
- Claudia Williams, Manifest MedEx
- Anthony E. Wright, Health Access California
- William York, San Diego Community Information Exchange
