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Washington Community Information Exchange (WA CIE) Newsletter
| | Welcome to the Washington Community Information Exchange | | |
The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) is investing in a significant care coordination infrastructure and technology improvement — a Community Information Exchange (CIE). This is being developed based on feedback from health and social care providers, community-based care coordinators, and community members from every part of the state.
Building a CIE is a huge endeavor that will create a positive impact for Washington. Think of it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the future of community-based care coordination for Washingtonians, including:
- People with health and social care needs
- People who provide community-based care coordination
- People who document and report on community-based coordination
- People who pay for and resource community-based care coordination
This initiative is exciting, yet complex. Rather than approaching the challenge with a specific solution in mind, HCA has opted to focus on engaging community members — people who will use and benefit from the WA CIE — to collaboratively arrive at a solution. Community members are invited to participate in co-designing what the WA CIE should do, how it should function, how it will protect privacy, and what health and social care needs are initially prioritized. Your voice matters.
To carry out this vision, HCA has contracted with Comagine Health, a Washington State based nonprofit organization, to act as the Lead Organization (LO) for the CIE. The LO serves as a neutral third party to engage in co-design of WA CIE governance and technology.
Through this newsletter, webinars, and other communication methods, we will share WA CIE progress, learnings, and ways for you to be involved. Keep reading to find out what we have been up to and how you can engage!
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What is the WA CIE?
The WA CIE will create an interconnected, statewide system to support care coordinators across health and social services to address the needs of Washingtonians. The WA CIE will connect regional Community Care Hubs, social care providers, and health care providers into a network that can be scaled to serve all Washingtonians.
This will be accomplished by:
- Standardizing the data exchange
- Supporting interoperability across state, regional, and local systems
- Establishing clear governance
To reach this goal, the WA CIE team is working with interested community members. These partners will develop solutions for challenging issues, like setting rules and providing guidance for how organizations can share health-related social needs (HRSN) data and establish a shared technology system with capabilities such as resource directories, client management systems, closed-loop referrals, and interoperability with existing systems.
Ultimately, the WA CIE will make it easier for community-based care coordinators to connect people in Washington to critical HRSN services like nutrition, housing, and transportation. This approach will also connect partners and providers within and across sectors so they can work together and share information to strengthen health outcomes statewide.
This isn’t a one-time solution. The vision for the WA CIE is that it will be an infrastructure investment that will evolve over time based on needs and capacity. Hence, securing sustainable funding will be part of the work for HCA, LO, governance committee, and community partners to solve for collaboratively.
| | | To demonstrate our commitment to community co-design that will improve care coordination across health and social care sectors, we are building community engagement into the foundation of our activities. Co-designing the governance of the WA CIE is foundational to realize HCA’s vision for the WA CIE. So, to engage and build trust with community members early in the process, we have formed two advisory bodies made up of community partners to support the work of the WA CIE team. We chose to start with an interim governance structure to build a roadmap for generating awareness, interest, trust, and engagement. | | |
WA CIE Interim Advisory Committee (IAC)
The Interim Advisory Committee (IAC) is a short-term advisory body that brings community partners together to collaboratively co-design the WA CIE as an inclusive, open and transparent system, primarily through the development and eventual implementation of a more permanent governance structure.
The IAC will convene for 9-12 months, dissolving once the more permanent WA CIE governance is approved and individuals are identified to fill the recommended number of seats. The term duration and limits for the more permanent CIE governance will be part of the recommendations that the IAC develops.
The IAC also advises on community engagement strategies, WA CIE vision and goals, and sustainability. In its first meetings, IAC has adopted a charter, reviewed the Community Engagement Plan, supported with Interim Data and Technical Advisory (IDATA) Workgroup recruitment, worked to align on shared language, and started governance structure design work.
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WA CIE Interim Data and Technical Advisory (IDATA) Workgroup
The IDATA Workgroup will help define the initial scope for data governance and exchange, as well as the technical requirements needed to execute on the vision of the WA CIE. IDATA members will be heavily involved in making recommendations that will inform the technology functionality and procurement processes for the WA CIE. IDATA members understand the community-based care coordination workflows, as well as the technology that supports those workflows.
IDATA is also a short-term advisory body, expected to convene for 9-12 months while a more permanent governance structure is developed. In its first meetings, members are developing shared language and an approach that will guide operations. These activities will help define future technical and functional requirements.
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To kick off the WA CIE community engagement work, we hosted two introductory webinars on March 18. The WA CIE team shared an overview of proposed timelines and engagement activities, and responded to frequently asked questions from participants. Presenters discussed the statewide vision, and highlighted ways to remain engaged.
Thank you to the 250+ attendees for your interest, support, and feedback — and for helping to keep the “community” in Community Information Exchange.
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Thank you to the nearly 700 people who have participated in information sessions, meetings, and other convenings in the last six months. These activities are helping us learn more about community-based care coordination from multiple perspectives.
We are pleased to announce that our Community Engagement Plan is now complete and available on the WA CIE website. You can read the plan to learn more about the framework, activities, and measures that will guide inclusive, transparent and meaningful participation in WA CIE.
The WA CIE team has been very active with a variety of other engagement activities with community partners. The team has been holding:
- Outreach meetings and presentations
- Interim advisory body meetings (IAC and IDATA Workgroup)
- A series of key informant interviews, which are in-depth conversations with community partners to shape care coordination tools and guide technology requirements
- Several focus groups, including a Local Housing Assistance Focus Group, a Managed Care Organizations Focus Group, and a Youth, Families, and Households Focus Group. Additional focus groups will be scheduled in the future.
The team is also planning human-centered design workshops in the spring and summer, which will be working sessions to prioritize key insights from interviews and focus groups. Further information on opportunities to participate in the workshops will be coming soon.
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Community Engagement Opportunities
Do you have questions for the WA CIE team? The next Public Input Virtual Walk-In is on May 28. Drop in any time between 11 a.m. and noon PT. No registration is required — the link will take you directly to the Zoom session.
We are looking to hear from Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Washington state. As we co-design the WA CIE, we invite you to join our FQHC focus group in April. If you are interested in participating, please email the WA CIE email inbox at wacie@comagine.org.
| | | We Want to Connect With You! | | | | |
