Arizona health information exchange initiative set to launch

The state of Arizona next week will launch an initiative aimed at advancing health information technology and health information exchange throughout the state. Arizona's Health IT Roadmap 2.0 will officially kick off Wednesday with a public forum at the Arizona Medical Association.

The Roadmap, which was released last month, includes 19 recommendations for advancing health IT in the state, both in the short term and during the next three years. It focuses on areas such as policy, infrastructure, care transformation and stakeholder engagement.

Some of the actions to be implemented call for developing standards for patient consent, integrating physical and behavioral health information exchange, and offering greater support to providers.

Arizona developed the Roadmap through funding from the State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program, a federal initiative designed to help states further their ability to share health information both in a state and with other states.

But with the end of federal funding early this year, Arizona will need to look for additional ways to support its health information exchange efforts.

The Arizona Strategic Enterprise Technology office, part of its Department of Administration, and the Arizona Health-e Connection worked with consulting firm Mosaica Partners on developing the Roadmap.

Follow Beth Kutscher on Twitter: @MHbkutscher