States have struggled for decades to establish infrastructure that allows for the efficient and secure sharing of health information, despite it being associated with improved quality and reduced duplicative services and associated costs. California has made some progress, including the growth of regional health information organizations (HIOs), but significant gaps remain. As a result, many residents still receive care in settings that do not have their complete health records, which can lead to care that is inefficient at best and dangerous at worst.

In a new issue brief prepared with the California Health Care Foundation, Manatt Health outlines the following policy, contracting and financing levers available to states working to advance interoperability—the ability of healthcare entities to seamlessly exchange patient data—including their pros and cons:

• Public-private advisory councils
• Quality and value-based collaboratives
• Financing for health information exchange infrastructure, service development and onboarding
• Contracting
• Regulatory rulemaking and directives by state purchasers and regulators
• Executive orders
• Legislation

The report also reviews the efforts of California and five other states—Minnesota, Florida, Michigan, Maryland and North Carolina—to use some of these levers and extracts lessons from their successes and failures.

To read the full issue brief, click here.