SLHIE Project

The focus of this Project is on activities organized at the state level to advance HIE. “State-level” HIE (SL-HIE) refers to a distinct set of collaborative public-private sector efforts and a broad range of HIE roles, functions, issues and strategies incorporated as part of statewide HIE infrastructure. Strategic and Operational Plans for achieving sustainable, statewide HIE infrastructure must address:
Governance
Finance
Technical Infrastructure
Business and Technical Operations
Legal/Policy
Organized collaborative efforts involve state government based HIT Coordinators, state-level HIE organizations and other key entities such as Medicaid agencies, advisory bodies and others. Working together, SL-HIE efforts contribute to building HIE capacity by:
Ensuring that exchange develops beyond narrowly defined interests to serve statewide public interests
Identifying the boundaries for cooperation versus competition.
Mobilizing public and private resources for effective collaboration.
Creating opportunities for cost-effective, shared investments across stakeholders.
Serving state public policy interests and consumer protection concerns by facilitating consistent, reliable HIE practices.
The SL-HIE Consensus Project strategic priorities support these efforts and include:
Expand the knowledge base regarding effective HIE and SL-HIE governance, organizational effectiveness, and sustainability of SL-HIE efforts in the emerging nationwide context.
Provide an effective state-level HIE “voice” for timely information about SL-HIE experiences and perspectives and to convey strategic input from the Forum that advances HIE development across states and nationwide
Provide targeted one-on-one technical supports and assistance to SL-HIE leaders in different stages as they develop and implement their statewide plans and governance and technical infrastructures in coordination with ONC.
Provide a Health Information Exchange Information Service to enhance networking, shared learning and promising practices.

The State -Level Health Information Exchange Consensus Project (SLHIE Project) began in 2006 under a contract from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) to the research foundation of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA Foundation).  The SLHIE Project is now continuing under the terms of a 2009 – 2010 cooperative agreement

The focus of the State-Level Health Information Exchange Consensus (SLHIE) Project is on activities organized at the state level to advance statewide HIE development.  The SLHIE Project began at a time when other HIE efforts were growing at local and regional levels through RHIOs and other HIE networks.  The descriptive phrase  “State-level HIE” (SLHIE) was adopted to refer to what came to be identified as a distinct set of collaborative public-private sector efforts and a broad range of HIE roles, functions, issues and strategies emerging to guide statewide HIE development. 

Since the SLHIE Project began, SLHIE initiatives have proliferated across states in varying forms and approaches. Through HITECH and ONC”s State HIE Program, states are recognized as an important locus for HIE leadership, planning and implementation activities. States have accountabilities to achieve goals for interoperability in ways that ensure that HIE serves the broad public’s interests for improved health and health care. 

Under the auspices of the State HIE Program, the SLHIE Project now focuses on providing supports to State HIE Program grantees in their work to develop and implement Strategic and Operational Plans for achieving sustainable, statewide HIE infrastructure.

The SLHIE Project’s current priorities are:

  • Continuing to cull lessons learned from state grantees’ progress to expand the knowledge base regarding effective best practices for statewide HIE development and sustainability.
  • Supporting timely dissemination of information about states’ HIE experiences and perspectives and to convey strategic input from the Forum that advances HIE development across states and nationwide.
  • Providing targeted technical supports and assistance to State HIE leaders and grantees in different stages as they develop and implement their statewide plans and governance and technical infrastructures in coordination with ONC.
  • Provide a Health Information Exchange Information Service to enhance networking, shared learning and promising practices.

Activities include:

  • Ongoing support for the State HIE Toolkit and other technical assistance services provided through the Forum. 
  • Convening of the Forum
  • Information dissemination services including the Web site, listserv, webinars, presentations and dissemination of reports and issue briefs.