As part of a growing set of health care standards, the ability of healthcare providers to access and understand the social determinants of their patients’ health to advance and achieve equity requires sufficient steps that the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT has created an SDOH toolkit. for communities.
ONC says it built the toolkit, which is designed for collaborative community groups and healthcare providers, around “community readiness and stewardship, policy, financing, user support and learning networks.”
The Georgia Health Information Network, or GaHIN, is laser-focused on creating the collaboration and structure needed to build trust and security in a new era of data sharing that extends beyond clinical data and focuses on whole-of-life care. individual.
Bee HIMSS24scheduled for March 11-15 in Orlando, Shirelle King, program manager at the GaHIN, and Evelyn Gallego, the CEO and founder of EMI Advisors, will explain how GaHIN as a HIE was well positioned to meet the challenges of organizing all components that require interoperable SDOH data exchange.
King and Gallego will share more details about the HIE’s comprehensive strategy and roadmap during their session. Improving whole-person care through clinical and social data integration.
Q. How does the policy help drive a shift toward whole-person care?
A. In recent years, policymakers and health experts have realized that achieving better healthcare outcomes is intrinsically linked to an individual’s SDOH.
In Georgia, the state-designated health information exchange, Georgia Health Information Network, is leading the charge to break down the data silos that exist between (and sometimes within) community organizations, government agencies, and health care providers. With deep expertise in building highly secure channels between private and public entities to facilitate the exchange of patient data, GaHIN has the knowledge, technical skills and connections to achieve success in exchanging social care data.
Q. How can an HIE enhance existing data infrastructure beyond clinical data exchange?
A. HIEs are uniquely positioned to bring together health and social care organisations. Because of their role as aggregators of health IT data, HIEs already have the tools needed to standardize and securely share information.
The challenge will be creating a wall between medical and SDOH data, allowing healthcare providers to see relevant social data about their patients while isolating personal health information from social care settings.
Making SDOH data easily accessible will support healthcare equity and reduce the burden on community organizations. For GaHIN, this meant upgrading our healthcare technology platform and adding a separate social care integration platform. Because both platforms are from the same supplier, we are assured of interoperability.
Q. What are some approaches that data networks are taking to promote the exchange of SDOH information among their participating clinical and community-based provider groups?
A. GaHIN undertook a five-step process to launch its social care data initiative.
First, we spoke to several health, social service, and community organizations to determine their needs and concerns.
The next step was to upgrade our existing technology infrastructure to support data sharing and integration efforts. Third, we implemented a comprehensive data governance framework to address data ownership, consent, privacy, and security issues.
We then started a pilot to test the functionality and effectiveness. Our final step will be to scale and expand our platform across the state. At each stage we receive feedback from healthcare and social sector stakeholders.
Q. What trust-building data sharing strategies will you delve into during the session?
A. By participating, collaborating and integrating with government agencies and social care organizations, GaHIN builds trust and aligns our partners with the initiative’s mission, purpose and results.
For example, we promote engagement by consistently meeting with representatives from social care organizations to gather their feedback and strategic guidance. During our session we will share our comprehensive strategy plan, which outlines objectives, milestones, timelines and key performance indicators. We will also share our use cases and how we support outreach efforts to social care organizations to gain their support and meaningful participation.
The HIMSS24 session, Enhancing Whole-Person Care Through Clinical and Social Data Integration, is scheduled for March 12 from11-11:30 am in room W307A. More information and registration.
Andrea Fox is editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
The 2024 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition will take place March 11-15, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. More information and registration.