The California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS) has gone live with a new portal that will enable other health entities to sign on to a recent landmark agreement and, in the process, comply with state law by a rapidly approaching deadline. Among the takeaways:
- The new Data Sharing Agreement Signing Portal (DSA Signing Portal) went live Nov. 29. It enables “health care organizations specified by Assembly Bill 133,” the Center for Data Insights & Innovation (CDII) told Industry Insider — California via email, to sign the DSA, which is aimed at advancing health equity and promoting “the safe, effective and timely sharing of health information among California’s health and human services system,” per a news release.
- Signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in July 2021, AB 133 is a health trailer bill that among its actions renamed the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development as the Department of Health Care Access and Information; set “uniform requirements for the reporting and collection of workforce data from health care-related licensing boards to the data center”; and required the newly named department to “maintain the confidentiality of licensee information collected pursuant to these provisions,” authorizing its release only in aggregate form. The bill created the California Health and Human Services Data Exchange Framework (DxF), which includes the DSA and a “common set of policies and procedures that will govern and require the exchange of health information among health care entities and government agencies in California.”
Specified entities must sign the DSA by Jan. 31. These include “general acute care hospitals, physician organizations and medical groups, skilled nursing facilities, health service plans and disability insurers, Medi-Cal managed care plans, clinical laboratories and acute psychiatric hospitals,” the news release said. - CalHHS “contracted with the California Association of Health Information Exchanges to support DSA Signing Portal design,” CDII told Industry Insider, indicating the portal “will be updated as needed to meet the needs of entities required to sign the Data Sharing Agreement,” but that it doesn’t support actual data sharing between organizations and isn’t “intended to support functions beyond documenting and registering organizations that have signed the DSA.”
“Signatories will need to either use a Health Information Exchange intermediary or use other capabilities in their (electronic health record) EHR or other technology to meet data sharing obligations defined in the DSA and its Policies & Procedures,” CDII said. - Most organizations required to sign the DSA will be expected to begin sharing data in compliance with its requirements starting in January 2024, CDII said, although some smaller organizations will be exempted until 2026. CalHHS will, CDII said, be “actively monitoring activity in the signing portal to understand which organizations have and have not executed the Data Sharing Agreement” and is currently focused on educating health-care organizations around the state on the benefits of signing — “the opportunity to participate in a long-awaited, much-needed transformation of the health system toward greater equity and improved health outcomes.”
- The state’s plan to stimulate organizations signing on to the DSA includes a series of instructional webinars during the fall as well as a $50 million investment over two years to support DxF adoption. For its part, CDII said, it will provide grants statewide for “education, technical assistance, and (Health Information Exchange) HIE connectivity support to small or under-resourced providers, particularly small physician practices, rural hospitals, and community-based organizations.” CalHHS’ Data Exchange Framework Grant Program overview offers more information.
