GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., Aug. 30, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative (SHIEC) held its 4^th annual conference last week in Atlanta, which featured a packed agenda of speakers covering topics related to advancing interoperability and sharing common health information exchange (HIE) issues and best practices. 

Kelly Hoover Thompson, CEO of SHIEC, said the conference was strong evidence of the growth and progress of the national collaborative of HIEs. “This conference and organization have grown steadily over the past four years, and this was a banner year for SHIEC,” Thompson said.

In addition to attracting another 17 HIEs to join SHIEC (membership now exceeds 70 HIE members), the national HIE collaborative has more than doubled membership in its Strategic Business & Technology (SB&T) partner program to 60 members. The SB&T program is made up of organizations that provide technology and business solutions to HIEs to help them provide effective health data sharing capabilities across the country.

Due to the growth in membership, SHIEC’s HIE reach now spans the country and directly touches more than 200 million people throughout the U.S.

The conference included the annual business meeting during which SHIEC announced the newly elected SHIEC board members. SHIEC’s board of directors includes 12 board members who serve three-year staggered terms. Three board members were re-elected this year, including: Dick Thompson, CEO, Quality Health Network; Teresa Rivera, CEO, Utah Health Information Network (UHIN); and Keith Hepp, chief financial officer and vice president of business development, The Health Collaborative. In addition, Dan Chavez, executive director, San Diego Health Connect joins the SHIEC board for a three-year term, replacing Deb Bass, retired CEO of Nebraska Health Information Initiative.

Don Rucker, the National Coordinator for Health IT at the Department of Health and Human Services, delivered the keynote address on Monday, August 20, 2018, noting that HIEs “provide a valuable netting connecting our medical communities.”

Other key highlights of the conference included:

• The Progress and Promise of Health Information Exchange – representatives from the Veterans Health Administration, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) discussed their approach and future plans for health information exchange
• The Foundation and Future of the Patient Centered Data Home™ (PCDH) – this presentation featured research results on PCDH as well as a report on the national expansion of PCDH regional networks
• Responding to Disaster: Moving and Accessing Patient Information in a Crisis – a panel discussion featured both past experiences and future planning for moving and accessing health information in response to disaster

SHIEC Achievement Award Winners

The conference also announced the first-ever SHIEC Achievement Award winners in five categories:

• Advocacy and Government Relations: UHIN, based in Salt Lake City, UT, was selected for its work in receiving and implementing a $2.5 million ONC grant to increase interoperability in key areas and programs of the state.
• Community Partnership: Health Current, based in Phoenix, AZ, was selected for its collaborative work with the state Medicaid agency and many public/private entities to onboard and build one of the nation’s largest integrated care networks.
• Innovation: The Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE) was selected for their research and work to improve access to critical information for emergency department physicians across the state.
• Quality and Quality Data: Health Share Exchange, based in Philadelphia, PA, was awarded for its work in partnering with vendors to enhance and improve data quality in HIE.
• Leadership: Angie Bass, CEO, Missouri Health Connection, was recognized for her leadership in bringing together community stakeholders to create the statewide HIE in a difficult political environment.

Date and Location for Next Year’s Annual Conference

SHIEC also announced the conference will be held again next year, from August 18-21, 2019, at the Gaylord Hotel in National Harbor, MD.

About SHIEC

SHIEC is the national collaborative of health information exchanges (HIEs) and strategic business and technology partners. As the unbiased data trustees in their communities, SHIEC’s 70+ member HIE organizations manage and provide for the secure digital exchange of data by medical, behavioral, and social service providers to improve the health of the communities they serve. Collectively, SHIEC members serve more than 75% of the U.S. population.

For more information about SHIEC, visit info@strategichie.com and follow us on Twitter at @SHIEClive.

Contact
Tom Reavis
Health Current (Co-Chair, SHIEC Marketing/Communications Committee)
(602) 688-7202
tom.reavis@healthcurrent.org