Author: Jessica Hagins
NC HIEA Advisory Board Meeting Update and New Board Members
The N.C. Health Information Exchange Authority held a meeting of the NC HIEA Advisory Board earlier this month, covering the accomplishments of the last quarter of 2024 and a look toward goals for 2025 and beyond.
Staff presented the ongoing operations of the NC HIEA, including new staff members, participant connections, and legislative and budgetary updates. We also premiered the new Roadmap 2030, a strategic document outlining the goals and objectives of our organization for the next five years.
In this Roadmap, the NC HIEA and its Advisory Board focus on four overarching goals that speak to the opportunities on the horizon:
- Broaden exchange capabilities to support equitable, whole-person care
- Build upon the HIE foundation to remain at the forefront of data quality and emerging data standards
- Support value-based care and public health priorities alongside agency and organization partners
- Cultivate stability by expanding HIE services and their utilization
Designation as a Health Data Utility
One of the objectives in the Roadmap 2030 is to seek designation as a health data utility (HDU). The state-designated health information exchange (HIE), known as NC HealthConnex, already functions as an HDU in many ways. It is currently considered an expanded HIE, with data exchange services to entities such as pharmacies, local health departments and more.
In order to be classified as an HDU, the NC HIEA would need to be designated as such by the legislature. HDU designation could accelerate greater diversity in exchange participants, such as emergency and social services. It would also inform HIEA’s governance framework and technical support for new use cases.
Read additional information about classification as an HDU from a previous article.
New Board Members
Also at the Advisory Board meeting, board member Brent Lamm was voted in as the new chair of the board, and we welcomed two new board members, Laura Gruebel and Michael Robinson.
We look forward to working with them to advance the goals and opportunities of health data exchange in North Carolina.