Idaho health department plans to stop paying health data contractor

Kyle Pfannenstiel, Idaho Capital Sun

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare plans to extremity paying to entree nan Idaho Health Data Exchange, a bankrupt government-created wellness information sharing service.

Interim wellness section head Dean Cameron told nan Idaho Health Data Exchange head that nan authorities would extremity its statement pinch nan exchange, according to an April 17 missive obtained by nan Idaho Capital Sun.

But nan wellness section could hold aliases extremity nan contract’s termination, Cameron said. That’s if, wrong nan adjacent month, nan speech shares a wellness information information audit, almost a decade of financial audits, worker interaction information, and time-keeping policies, Cameron wrote.

Idaho’s wellness information speech is among respective wellness accusation systems crossed nan state meant to thief wellness attraction providers, insurers and others stock patient’s aesculapian information much effectively.

The Idaho Health Data Exchange is simply a nonprofit statement propped up by almost $94 cardinal successful mostly national taxation funds. A watchdog study by nan Office of Performance Evaluations successful November recovered nan speech had fewer state-built accountability measures much than a decade aft authorities officials created it.

“The Department takes these concerns earnestly and is requesting that (the Idaho Health Data Exchange) return immoderate action to ameliorate what (the watchdog report) had identified arsenic (the Idaho Health Data Exchange’s) wide ‘reluctance to adopt transparency measures’ earlier nan Department whitethorn see continuing its relationship,” Cameron wrote.

Idaho Health Data Exchange Executive Director Jesse Meldru told nan Sun nan speech hopes its services will still beryllium disposable to nan wellness department.

The Idaho Health Data Exchange “will proceed to activity difficult pinch our partners astatine nan Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to make sure” nan exchange’s “services proceed to stay disposable to nan Idaho Department of Health and Welfare,” Meldru said successful a statement.

The speech is successful nan process of responding to nan wellness department, Meldru said.

The Idaho Health Data Exchange exited bankruptcy past year, pinch a scheme to salary 25% of its debts.

It wasn’t instantly clear really overmuch nan Idaho Department of Health and Welfare contributes to nan Idaho Health Data Exchange.

The wellness section pays “relatively small” fees for accessing information connected nan exchange, Meldru antecedently told nan Sun. He said Idaho withdrawing support for nan speech would not “materially impact” nan exchange’s expertise to operate.

The speech has operated without authorities aliases national grants since precocious 2020, Meldru antecedently told nan Sun.

What this intends for Idaho aesculapian providers

Medical providers tin proceed to participate successful nan exchange, said wellness section spokesperson AJ McWhorter. Without nan requested wellness information information audit, “providers participating do truthful astatine their ain risk,” McWhorter said.

The watchdog study didn’t find grounds that nan exchange’s information is vulnerable, but identified a imaginable conflict of liking successful a 3rd statement that attested to its information successful 2021. Meldru antecedently said nan exchange’s information information is “top notch,” citing outer reviews.

If Idaho ended its statement pinch nan exchange, nan Idaho wellness section would extremity paying nan exchange, aliases receiving aliases sharing information done it, McWhorter told nan Sun successful a statement. The wellness section utilized nan information for aesculapian grounds reviews and epidemiology lawsuit work, he said. The agency would usage different intends for that activity if nan statement ended, McWhorter said.

But if Idaho withdrew, Idaho’s vaccine database called nan Immunization Reminder Information System would not beryllium accessible done nan exchange, McWhorter said.

“Providers would dangle connected different participating providers’ immunization information successful (the exchange), and approved providers tin still entree immunization records straight from” nan vaccine system, McWhorter said.

Idaho Health Data Exchange operations not impacted if authorities statement ends

Meldru said losing gross from Idaho Department of Health and Welfare “would beryllium immaterial” to nan Idaho Health Data Exchange, which he said “has galore important clients” passim Idaho.

But Meldru suggested it could strain nan wellness section and aesculapian providers.

When “a diligent aesculapian grounds is not retrieved anterior to transportation of care, procedures are unnecessarily duplicated astatine a complaint of much than 20%,” Meldru told nan Sun. “To my mind, these propose nan Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and Idahoans would beryllium considerably worse disconnected by not having IHDE disposable to them arsenic a assets to make their processes of attraction transportation much businesslike and to thief amended nan imaginable for amended wellness outcomes among their attributed population.”

Medical providers wouldn’t beryllium impacted directly, Meldru said. But indirectly, he said, aesculapian unit would person to walk much clip responding manually to nan wellness department’s wellness grounds requests.

“We stay hopeful that (the Idaho Health Data Exchange) tin proceed to support arsenic overmuch of nan wellness attraction organization successful Idaho arsenic possible, and that astir surely includes nan Idaho Department of Health and Welfare,” Meldru told nan Sun.

Meldru said nan contract, already group to extremity June 30, had been renewed annually for 5 years.