Eighteen Bay Area health care organizations will be founding members of the region’s first community health information exchange (HIE) program, HealthShare Bay Area (HSBA).
The founding 18:
- Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association
- Alameda County Community Health Center Network
- Alameda County Medical Center
- Brown & Toland Physicians
- California Pacific Medical Center
- Glide Health Services
- Haight Ashbury-Walden House
- Hill Physicians Medical Group
- John Muir Health
- John Muir Physician Network
- Lyon-Martin Health Services
- Mission Neighborhood Health Center
- North East Medical Services
- St. Anthony Medical Clinic
- San Francisco Department of Public Health
- San Francisco Medical Society
- South of Market Health Center
- Women’s Community Clinic
The HealthShare Bay Area HIE will provide a secure, safe, and interoperable method for exchanging patient health information among providers of care and patients in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In the coming weeks, the founding members will form a governing board for the HIE. The board will then contract with a vendor that will provide the technical infrastructure for the exchange. The chosen technology will operate according to robust data privacy and security standards.
The governing board will also be tasked with securing additional funding for HSBA. The HIE’s four-year, $11 million startup and operating cost will come primarily from the founding members’ participation fees. Additional federal and private grants will be sought to supplement expenses as HSBA develops. New members joining the exchange in the coming months will provide additional revenue.
HealthShare Bay Area began as a grass-roots community initiative. In August of 2009, the California eHealth Collaborative brought together various San Francisco parties interested in creating a HIE within the city. This meeting was precipitated in large part by the passing of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), which allocated $20 billion for the deployment of health information technology. The ARRA also calls for medical organizations to participate in HIEs.
In March of 2010, a governing committee was formed under the auspices of the San Francisco Medical Society Community Service Foundation. A similar movement was also underway in the East Bay – the Alameda-Contra Costa Health Information Organization, fostered by the Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association. That fall, the San Francisco and East Bay groups joined forces. In April of 2011, the effort officially became HealthShare Bay Area.
