CT Health Information Exchange Hits Snag, Uncertain Future Remains

Connecticut state leaders have found it challenging to implement a statewide health information exchange (HIE). The state will now try for the fifth time to make it happen, according to The Connecticut Examiner.

With over a decade of fruitless efforts and over $40 million spent to no avail, Allan Hackney, Connecticut’s health information technology officer, resigned on December 3.

State leaders wanted the HIE up and running during the initial surge of COVID-19, but it did not launch in time. This frustrated leaders because the HIE could have boosted patient data exchange during the first wave of the pandemic.

A strong health data exchange is vital during a pandemic, as hospitals become overcrowded and patients visit unfamiliar facilities. HIEs can also integrate immunization information, which is also crucial during this time.

Since March, nearly 7,000 individuals in the state have died of COVID-19.

Between 2007 and 2018, the state spent $23 million of federal grant funding. It then spent an additional $20 million over the last three years with no statewide HIE to show for its efforts.

Although the statewide HIE was supposed to begin sharing data by the start of 2018, data cannot be shared within the system until both the state and the state’s providers can agree on terms.

State leaders appointed Jenn Searls to take over for Hackney as CONNIE’s executive director. She now has to finalize the agreements with the state’s providers and develop a business plan before grant funding expires in September 2021.

According to The Connecticut Examiner, over 20 smaller providers had signed agreements. However, three of the top four major health systems in the state have yet to sign on with the statewide HIE, which will hurt its chances of hitting its goal of exchanging data between 75 percent of hospitals and labs by the end of 2021. 

“The initial signers include ProHealth Physicians and the Connecticut State Medical Society,” said Searl. “But, if we are going to do good in the state we have to get a critical mass. Last night our board set a goal of 75 percent of our hospitals and labs exchanging data by the end of the calendar year.”

Searl said another goal is to continue to develop the sustainability plan that was supposed to be completed by its contractor, Velatura, in 2019.

“There has been a high level sustainability plan and our very first task has been to update that,” Searls said. “We need to make it more specific and more targeted.”

The statewide HIE intended to reduce costs and improve care by eliminating the chances of duplicative testing. It also aimed to link several providers without having to establish a connection with each facility and identifying health trends.

Additionally, the HIE presented financial benefits for the state because Medicaid and Medicare services are based on health outcomes data. Health systems can only receive payments if they can show that they improve care quality and reduce hospital readmissions.

With federal grant funding set to expire on September 30, CONNIE and Velatura will work together to develop this plan and put the project back on track.

In May 2020, Connecticut and the Health Information Alliance (HIA) inked its first HIE client, Connecticut State Medical Society’s CTHealthLink exchange.

At the time, Robert H. Aseltine, PhD, chair of the advisory board for CTHealthLink, told EHRIntelligence it was a “no-brainer” for CTHealthLink to sign on with the statewide HIE.