California Health eQuality (CHeQ), a program of the Institute of Population Health Improvement at UC Davis Health System, has several initiatives that will accelerate, secure and enhance the exchange of Protected Health Information (PHI) for Californians. When your health information is accessible at the right time, by the right healthcare providers, in a rich format that compliments and assists in a patient’s continued care…it’s very effective!

CHeQ has engaged Ascendian Healthcare Consulting to provide critical subject matter expertise for the Health Information Home (HIH). The HIH is a two part program focused on a.) the structured capture of cancer data in the clinical setting for access by public health and healthcare professionals, and b.) the electronic capture and sharing of Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST). Ascendian will provide privacy and clinical workflow consulting that will help ensure data stewardship by designing a privacy and security policy framework in accordance with state and federal law as well as fair information practices.

These and other efforts underway are the required structure, early bridge points to the Health Information Exchange (HIE) activities within California and other states. Implemented locally, regionally and nationally they accelerate the data sharing in emerging care and delivery models as well as support future access by providers in the changing world of medicine.

“The HIH is subject to a variety of laws and regulations. These regulations can be complicated and cumbersome, particularly in California” said, Christy Navarro, Director of Health Information Privacy and Data Security at Ascendian Healthcare Consulting. “Our engagement with CHeQ will help to balance the need for flexibility in the development and implementation of policies against the responsibilities of data stewardship.”