Civitas Adds Health IT Vendor to National Interoperability Network

Civitas Networks for Health, an organization that aims to support interoperability through widespread collaboration, has added health IT vendor Kno2 as its newest member.

As healthcare’s largest network aggregator, Kno2 provides connectivity across a network of organizations, EHRs, health information exchanges (HIEs), interoperability frameworks, and technologies through its Communication API.

Lisa Bari, Civitas CEO, said that as the organization continues to drive health information exchange across the country, Kno2 will help bring members best practices for interoperability.  

“Civitas Networks for Health is excited to have Kno2 join our national network,” Bari said in a press release. “We are raising the voices of local health collaboratives and those providing critical services to support health transformation. From the secure exchange of life-saving data to the accountability of multi-stakeholder initiatives, our member organizations have built the most trusted, connected, and inventive programs to serve their communities.”

“Kno2 brings a deep understanding of various healthcare standards, interoperability frameworks, and healthcare legislation, including TEFCA,” Bari continued. “Their reputation of making connectivity easy for anyone in healthcare is unmatched, and we look forward to the insights and services they can bring to the network of Civitas members.”

Therasa Bell, Kno2’s co-founder, president, and chief technology officer, said that the company is committed to participating in initiatives driving interoperability.

Greater interoperability could benefit the industry in various ways, including enhanced clinical insights, increased care coordination, improved public health case reporting, and mitigated clinician burden.

“We are excited to join Civitas Networks for Health because our goals are closely aligned, and we believe we can bring value to Civitas members working to improve health by maximizing the way patient information is communicated and shared,” Bell said.

The Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI) and the Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative (SHIEC) partnered in August 2021 to form Civitas Networks for Health.

“Each organization brings to the partnership complementary knowledge and expertise critical to transforming the US healthcare system,” Ana English, NRHI’s board chair and Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC) president and CEO, said in a press release at the time of the announcement. “Together, we are in a unique position to achieve our goals of improving health and healthcare overall.”

Civitas Networks for Health accounts for over 100 regional and statewide HIEs, regional health improvement collaboratives (RHICs), quality improvement organizations (QIOs), and all-payer claims databases (APCDs), as well as more than 50 affiliated member organizations.