Setting Up a National HIE Data Network for Population Health

Despite billions being spent in digitizing the health system, there is still not a single national-level data system that captures health data for the entire population. Funded by a Robert H. Ebert Career Development Award, the National HIE Data Network study has established a workgroup of HIE leaders from across the country to design a national HIE network pilot that leverages new technical innovations and updated health data regulations. 

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of regional and state HIEs in building and maintaining the population health infrastructure required to share and receive health data in a reliable and timely manner. Many of these HIEs are evolving into Health Data Utilities (HDUs) by collecting data beyond EHRs to include social determinants of health (SDoH) and environmental data. This study is exploring the technical and operational ability of participating HIEs from different regions of the country to contribute data to common public health queries using a common data model (CDM) and shared data QA practices.