Rival payers collaborate on Calif. HIE
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California, rival payers, are spending $80 million to fund development of the California Integrated Data Exchange, known as Cal INDEX.
Plans call for the HIE to be operational by the end of this year. Part of the $80 million investment will cover operating the exchange at no cost to providers and payers for three years, after which a per member subscription fee will be kick in.
Cal INDEX plans to focus early on connecting with the 30 largest providers in the state to gain momentum and critical mass. For the past two years, the payers have been working with technology partners--Orion Helath and HealthCore--to launch the HIE. They plan to initially have claims, inpatient/outpatient EHR pharmacy and lab data available.
California residents will have the option to opt out of Cal INDEX but patients will have access to their data.
Past attempts to build a statewide HIE in California have not been successful. CalRHIO shut down in 2010 after five years.
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.