California Taps New Not-For-Profit Group To Run Health Data Exchange
On Monday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Kim Belshé tapped the new not-for-profit organization Cal eConnect to oversee the development of the state's health information exchange, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
Cal eConnect formed after CHHS leaders asked representatives from the California eHealth Collaborative and the California Regional Health Information Organization to submit a joint proposal for a statewide health data exchange.
The new organization aims to help California health care providers meet certain data exchange criteria to qualify for incentive payments from the 2009 federal economic stimulus package.
CHHS initially will grant $38.8 million to help Cal eConnect to develop the exchange.
Jonah Frohlich, CHHS deputy secretary, said the agency likely would appropriate the funds in about a month. He added that the Pacific Business Group on Health initially will help host the new data exchange.
Organization Leadership
PBGH CEO David Lansky and Don Crane, CEO of the California Association of Physician Groups, will serve as the first co-chairs of Cal eConnect. Officials also will select a 22-member board to oversee the exchange (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 3/8).
The board will establish regulations and standards for the data exchange and determine what types of sensitive information will be shared over the network.
The organization also will evaluate whether to contract with a single vendor or multiple vendors for the data exchange services (Clark, HealthLeaders Media, 3/9).
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