The national trade association that today represents health information exchanges (HIEs) serving more than half of the U.S. patient population met at the second annual SHIEC Conference held recently in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“This high energy event, focused on community health data exchange, demonstrates the growing value of the SHIEC trade association in solving our country’s interoperability challenges,” according to Dick Thompson, CEO of Quality Health Network and Board Chair of SHIEC. The conference included more than 250 stakeholders, doubling the size of last year’s event. This engaged group of SHIEC members include HIEs, payers, policymakers, providers and strategic business and technology partners.
“It was gratifying to see the open dialogue among the attendees about what works and what doesn’t. These candid discussions will help us solve our nation’s interoperability problems and only happen in an environment of trust,” said Thompson. “Additionally the SHIEC members agreed to fast-track the growth of the Patient Centered Data Home™ (PCDH) project which was launched early this year as a result of the 2015 conference. PCDH is a cost-effective and innovative use of existing standards which accelerates interoperability across the country.”
The keynote address for the conference was delivered by Jon White, MD, Deputy National Coordinator for Health Information Technology of the Department of Health and Human Services, and several representatives from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) attended the conference. “We enjoyed the exchange of ideas and information at the SHIEC Conference,” said John Rancourt, Deputy Director, Office of Care Transformation, ONC. “This national association is helping to drive interoperability across communities and across the country.”
Josie Wong, RN, MSN, Clinical Technology Senior Program Manager for Blue Shield of California participated on a speaker panel for the second year. “I enjoyed presenting in this year’s conference but also look forward to the positive results from the many discussions of issues and ideas,” Wong said. “As a result of the discussions last year, we were able to coordinate an innovative way to demonstrate successful medication management with our providers and patients partnering with a SHIEC member, Santa Cruz Health Information Exchange (SCHIE).
The conference also included successful and productive collaboration with business and technology partners who helped support the conference. “We have a select group of strategic business and technology partners who are committed to helping HIEs improve their operations and services to their communities,” Thompson said. “We look forward to a successful collaborative partnership going forward.”
Indianapolis, Indiana was selected as the site for 2017 SHIEC Conference.