HIE Consortium Releases Health Data Utility Maturity Model

The Consortium for State and Regional Interoperability (CSRI), a collection of five nonprofit health information exchange (HIE) organizations, has released a health data utility (HDU) maturity model.

An HDU is a nonprofit organization serving as a public-private resource for clinical and non-clinical data states and other healthcare stakeholders to leverage to achieve healthier communities.

The maturity model aims to provide state health and policy leaders with a structure for advancing the HDU concept to address pressing health challenges nationwide, including maternal health disparities, the opioid use disorder epidemic, and infectious disease outbreaks.

“Each state should have a statewide health data utility,” John Kansky, CSRI board officer and president and CEO of Indiana Health Information Exchange, said in a press release.

“While most states have organizations and assets that help meet health data needs, we all have work to do and gaps to fill,” Kansky added. “It’s my hope that this maturity model helps guide all states toward a unified health data utility, regardless of their starting point.”

The document includes a tiered model of the characteristics and services of an HDU and the private and public segments it serves, which include the private sector, the government/nonprofit sector, and academia.

“The United States is a global technology leader, but our nation’s health and policy establishment has been unable to fully realize the return on investments in our health IT infrastructure to improve the health and well-being of our communities,” said Morgan Honea, CSRI president and executive vice president of Contexture, a founding CSRI health data organization.

“The CSRI Health Data Utility Maturity Model provides a structure for health and policy leaders to ensure that people in cities and towns across the country live healthy, productive lives,” Honea continued.

Maryland designated CRISP, a CSRI founding HIE, as the state HDU in October 2022. State law requires CRISP to provide data in real-time to individuals and organizations involved in treating patients and public health officials to support public health goals.

The legislation also requires the Maryland Department of Health (MDH), nursing homes, electronic health networks, and prescription drug dispensers to share data with the HIE.