Health Alliance partnership aims to enhance care in San Benito County

The Central California Alliance for Health last week announced its collaboration with Serving Communities Health Information Organization (SCHIO), one of the oldest and most advanced multi-stakeholder health information exchanges (HIEs) in the country. 

The partnership will help Alliance Medi-Cal members and providers in five counties, including San Benito, to seamlessly exchange health data between healthcare systems, enhancing care coordination and improving health outcomes, says a press release from the Alliance.

The California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS) recently introduced its new Data Exchange Framework (DxF), a set of extensive data exchange standards that guarantee California residents access to their medical records at any site of care in the state. On Oct. 24, 2023, SCHIO was designated as a California Qualified Health Information Organization (QHIO) to facilitate the secure exchange of health and social services information.

“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,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of CalHHS.

With DxF requirements having become mandatory across California as of Jan. 31, 2024, the Alliance has chosen Santa Cruz-based SCHIO to assist its Medi-Cal providers in navigating what are expected to be the nation’s most rigorous data exchange policies, says the press release. 

“SCHIO makes data available to the Alliance and its partners to facilitate decision-making, meet data-sharing regulatory requirements, align with CalAIM, and ultimately improve the health outcomes of the populations that we collectively serve,” said Cecil Newton, Chief Information Officer of Central California Alliance for Health. 

“This arrangement is an extension of over six years of mutual commitment to offer healthcare organizations a better understanding of the new interoperability regulations and technology solutions to simplify care. We are looking forward to standardizing and streamlining Californians’ access to healthcare services.”