The N.C. Health Information Exchange Authority recently completed an internal assessment using the Consortium for State and Regional Interoperability (CSRI) HDU Capability Model — a nationally developed, stakeholder-driven framework that evaluates 167 defined capabilities across six domains: Providers, Payers, Public Health, Researchers, Patients and Shared. Some capabilities are designated as ‘gated’, meaning they must be achieved before an organization can progress to higher levels of designation. A Capability Index score is used to reflect not just task completion but how fully NC HealthConnex delivers on the weighted value of each capability, meaning this score is more adaptive rather than a binary pass/fail test.
With an overall Capability Index score of 77 out of 100 and 83% of gated capabilities already met, NC HealthConnex has established the foundational trust, interoperability and operational reliability that define a maturing HDU.
Strengths are particularly evident in the Public Health (89) and Shared (82) domains, where established capabilities like Immunization Information System (IIS) submission and clinical laboratory connectivity demonstrate the kind of mature, reliable infrastructure that the broader health ecosystem depends on.
Where scores are lower, notably in the Patient (33) and Researcher (52) domains, the assessment identifies opportunities for growth. These domains include capabilities such as patient portal access and a formalized process for review and approval of research uses of the data, respectively.
To project HDU maturation, NC HIEA ran a simulated scenario in which every capability tied to a Roadmap 2030 goal was brought to full operational status (earning maximum score of 3 in the CSRI model). Under that simulation, NC HealthConnex's Capability Index score would increase nearly 12 points to 89, with the Provider domain alone projected to improve by 25 points. Both the Researcher domain and the Provider domain are expected to improve significantly if all Roadmap 2030 goals are completed.
This assessment confirms that NC HealthConnex is not just performing well today. The organization has a clear, structured path to full HDU maturity, with the strategies to get there already underway.
