Author: Jessica Hagins
The Civitas Networks for Health 2024 Annual Conference took place in Detroit, Michigan, October 15 – 17. Staff from the NC HIEA attended to learn more about evolving topics in health data exchange, social determinants of health, health equity and more. The three-day event included attendees from health information exchanges (HIEs) across the country and presentations on topics such as interoperability, standards, technology and addressing unmet health related social needs (HRSN).
Staff shared key takeaways and lessons learned at the conference and how they will use this knowledge as they work to further the goals of the NC HIEA.
Jess Kuhn:
“A key theme of the conference was how strong partnerships with state and federal agencies, community-based organizations, health plans and providers play a crucial role in advancing health information sharing and supporting whole-person care. I particularly enjoyed a session on how the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has been partnering with data aggregators to drive value-based care transformation in primary care. This is especially important as North Carolina is one of eight states participating in CMMI’s Making Care Primary (MCP) Model.”
Therese Palkovic:
“There was a session about ‘ambient listening’ for capturing patients’ and providers’ notes during a visit, and I was intensely curious about how that works, and if they are able to parse that into standardized data and discrete elements once it’s been captured. I will be interested to follow that progress.”
Adonnica Rowland:
“Michigan’s Lieutenant Governor, Garlin Gilchrist lll, spoke during the Tuesday morning keynote session. He shared that he lost 28 people that were close to him during the pandemic. I was at a loss for words. I admire how his experience has motivated him to be creative with his methods to strive for better health care options for the residents of Michigan.”
Anita Valiani:
“It was very interesting to hear presentations on Health Data Utilities and how HIEs can benefit from moving towards that. The talk by the director of CMS, Meena Seshamani, on what her goals have been and the work she has accomplished at Medicare was also interesting. One message to take away was by aggregating data on the back end, it could help streamline data views and functionality for front end users which still helps demonstrate the value in the data.”
Kimberly Webster:
“One of the things that I noticed was a theme of was moving HIEs to HDUs (Health Data Utilities) so that they continue to stay relevant in the health care landscape. For me personally, I took away the importance of including all groups at the table. I attended some sessions on tribal healthcare and HIEs, and it really brought home what a great relationship we have with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and respecting their autonomy within the health care system.”