The Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement and the Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative announced this week that they're partnering to launch a new collaborative project called Civitas Networks for Health.

WHY IT MATTERS
The initiative, set to launch formally on October 1, will build a platform to help local nonprofit health organizations and regional health information exchanges "support action at the local, state, and national levels to achieve policy goals for healthcare quality, cost, and equity through data-driven, collaborative and transformative strategies," according to SHIEC and NRHI.

Lisa Bari, interim chief executive officer for SHIEC, will serve as interim CEO of Civitas Networks for Health.

"As we emerge from the pandemic, there is renewed energy for the role of community health leaders to advance local transformation in line with national goals for healthcare quality, cost, and equity," said Bari in a statement.

"It will take collaboration with these local organizations to truly transform health and build the trusted relationships that can help us achieve a national interoperability infrastructure," she said. "We believe that by bringing providers, purchasers, payers, and patients together to advance data-driven progress and strategies for improved health, we can meet the post-pandemic demand for better systems and structures that support our path to better health."

NRHI represents regional health improvement collaboratives and other state-affiliated partner organizations that engage with patients, providers, payers and purchasers to help spot new strategies for improving healthcare at the individual and the community level.

SHIEC, meanwhile, represents statewide, regional and community health information exchanges, working to boost care coordination and management across health systems to enable better clinical decision support, reduce readmissions and avoid duplicative tests and procedures.

As Civitas Networks for Health, the two member organizations will become a platform for "multi-stakeholder cross-sector health networks and collaboratives to work in partnership with local entities, similar organizations in regions throughout the country, and the federal government to create greater alignment and improve health outcomes," they said.

Civitas will represent 75 regional and statewide HIEs and 19 RHICs. It will also work with nearly two dozen affiliate members and more than strategic business and technology organizations across 45 states and the District of Columbia.

THE LARGER TREND
Recent years have seen a reassessment of health information exchanges' role in the healthcare ecosystem, and federal agencies have been investing in programs designed to spur HIE innovation for healthcare quality improvements.

This is especially needed during the pandemic, which has shone a spotlight on significant data sharing gaps in public health reporting. At HIMSS21 this past week, several keynote discussions and education sessions explored how info exchange capabilities can be shored up for better patient outcomes and population health management in the COVID-19 era.

ON THE RECORD
"Building closer ties with NRHI’s regional health improvement collaboratives makes perfect sense," said SHIEC Board Chair Melissa Kotrys in a statement. "We believe that, together, we can build a broader network to enhance and inform local, state, and federal health policy issues and private sector solutions which are built on data, best practices and trust."

"NRHI members have experience collecting and reporting on measures of healthcare quality and/or cost, designing initiatives to help healthcare providers and payers improve performance, and working directly with employers and other purchasers to push for value," added Ana English, NRHI’s board chair and CEO of Center for Improving Value in Health Care, in a statement. "SHIEC members have trusted data repositories, are experts in connectivity, and serve as problem solvers in their communities."

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
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