The California Health & Human Services Agency (CalHHS) has announced the designation of nine entities as Qualified Health Information Organizations (QHIOs) to support the state’s health data exchange framework (DxF).

The data exchange framework is key to achieving the state’s plans for transforming health care, expanding coverage, and improving connections between health care and social services.

DxF participants, including hospitals, medical groups, and skilled nursing facilities, may choose to utilize a QHIO as an intermediary. Alternatively, participants may exchange data through other means in compliance with the DxF’s Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) and its accompanying Policies and Procedures (P&Ps).

“Qualified Health Information Organizations create an accessible path for countless health and social services entities to participate in the Data Exchange Framework, providing access to actionable data across California’s entire health and social services system,” Mark Ghaly, MD, MPH, secretary of CalHHS, said in a press release.

“The added information health care providers will have at their disposal, the ease in which it can be securely shared, and the resulting informed and coordinated care that is possible, are fundamental improvements in how California’s health care system operates,” Ghaly said. “We are on the brink of ushering in a new era of true continuity of care for all, a remarkable advancement made possible with the Data Exchange Framework and modern data exchange.”

CalHHS designated the following organizations as QHIOs:

• Applied Research Works, Inc.
• Health Gorilla, Inc.
• Long Health, Inc.
• Los Angeles Network for Enhanced Services (LANES)
• Manifest MedEx
• Orange County Partners in Health – Health Information Exchange (OCPH-HIE)
• SacValley MedShare
• San Diego Health Connect
• Serving Communities Health Information Organization (SCHIO)

QHIOs provide health information exchange (HIE) capabilities many health and social service entities currently do not have, especially those serving historically marginalized populations and underserved communities.

Read the entire article in EHR Intelligence, which first published this story on October 25. It is reprinted with permission. 

Hannah Nelson

Hannah Nelson is an assistant editor of EHRIntelligence. She graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 2019 as a writing and rhetoric major with a sociology minor. Prior to writing for EHRIntelligence, Hannah primarily contributed to PatientEngagementHIT and HealthPayerIntelligence.

Keith Negley

Keith Negley is a nationally recognized editorial and children’s book illustrator hailing from the mountains of Bellingham, Washington. His work has appeared on book covers, t-shirts, album covers, posters, skateboard decks, and watches. He is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and The New Yorker. He also illustrates children’s books, the most recent being Art Is Life, which received a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators in New York City and is available wherever books are sold.