Lisa Bari Selected to eHealth Exchange Board of Directors
Lisa Bari Selected to eHealth Exchange Board of Directors
eHealth Exchange, one of the nation’s oldest and largest health information networks, is beginning the new year with the addition of Lisa Bari, Civitas Networks for Health CEO, to the eHealth Exchange board of directors. Bari complements the board as an accomplished leader who shares eHealth Exchange’s passion and commitment to transform health information data exchange for the benefit of patient care.
As the head of the largest non-profit association of health information exchanges (HIEs) and regional health improvement collaboratives (RHICs), Bari has a long history promoting interoperability and data sharing at the state and regional levels to support improved health. Her knowledge and expertise will be an asset in achieving eHealth Exchange’s strategic goals.
Event Recording | Gravity Project Information Session
Event Recording | Gravity Project Information Session
Thank you to all who were able to join Civitas Networks for Health on Thursday, Feb. 2, for an information session highlighting the work of our partners from the Gravity Project.
Sarah DeSilvey, Terminology Director for the Gravity Project, provided an overview of Gravity, highlighting recent accomplishments across the terminology, technical and pilot workstreams. Jessica Little, Senior Director of Business Development and Programs for Civitas, introduced Gravity’s collaboration with Civitas on a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) supported initiative to further the dissemination and implementation of Gravity standards with a focus on public health and health equity.
Sarah and Jessica announced exciting upcoming opportunities to participate in this work including co-design of Gravity implementation-focused resources, the ongoing Gravity Pilots Affinity Group, and the opportunity for 3 teams with early-stage pilot projects to receive specialized training and technical assistance. The RFP for pilot sites was released during the information session and can be accessed below as can the recording and slides from the session. All links shared during the session can be found in the RFP and presentation slides.
In case you missed the event – or would like to revisit the conversation, a recording and presentation slides are now available!
Member Webinar with KPI Ninja by Health Catalyst and Hawaii Health Information Exchange
Member Webinar: Making Equity Efforts Work at the County Level
Thank you to all who were able to join us today as we heard from Civitas members KPI Ninja by Health Catalyst and Hawaii Health Information Exchange (Hawaii HIE) with a presentation on “Making Equity Efforts Work at the County Level.”
Webinar attendees learned of the many challenges that county officials, community-based organizations, and clinicians face as the difficulty of understanding population health trends under the lens of social vulnerabilities. There is valuable data within the HIE that when combined with data in repositories such as the CDC’s U.S. Census Data, can help officials pinpoint the communities and individuals of higher health risk.
The session explored how health data from the Hawaii HIE was combined with Social Vulnerability Index data to power up an analytics platform that is assisting the county of Hawaii to understand the current impact of disparities as well as evaluating how successful various programs and initiatives are at decreasing the impact of these disparities.
KPI Ninja by Health Catalyst is a strategic partner to Hawaii HIE in helping to meet the evolving interoperability and population health use cases and demonstrating the unique value of the HIE to the stakeholders within the state of Hawaii. At the educational event, we were able to hear additional details on the partnership and accomplishments of these Civitas members.
Event Recording | Collaboratives in Action - Collaboratives in Action: Health Data Partnerships for Public Health Improvement
Event Recording | Collaboratives in Action: Health Data Partnerships for Public Health Improvement
Thank you to all who joined us on Monday, Dec. 5, for the final public webinar of our 2022 Collaboratives in Action series!
This event, hosted by Civitas Networks for Health, featured from Colorado Community Managed Care Network (CCMCN), Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM), the American Immunization Registry Association (AIRA), and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), who discussed their work on the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) Immunization Data Exchange, Advancement and Sharing (IDEAS) program.
Attendees learned about Immunization Information System functionality, how health data collaboratives can bolster immunization program efforts through data, technical services, and community support, and how partnerships between HIEs, health data collaboratives, and public health can be facilitated and strengthened.
In case you missed the event – or would like to revisit the conversation, a recording and presentation slides are now available!
Member Roundtable: Navigating Exchange, Management, and Use of Sensitive Reproductive Health Data
Civitas Networks for Health Member Roundtable: Navigating Exchange, Management, and Use of Sensitive Reproductive Health Data
Thank you to all who were able to join us on Tuesday, Nov. 29, for a follow-on discussion from the “Unconference” session at the Civitas Networks for Health 2022 Annual Conference, which focused on sensitive sexual and reproductive health data.
Moderated by Nichole Sweeney, General Counsel, CRISP, and Deven McGraw, Lead, Data Stewardship & Data Sharing, Invitae, this Civitas Member Roundtable drew on key considerations from Carol Robinson, CEO, CedarBridge Group; Kathy Miller, Chief Operating Officer, Bronx RHIO; Steven Lane, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, Health Gorilla; and Matt Becker, Vice President of Interoperability, Kno2.
Civitas members across the country are navigating reproductive health privacy protections, management, and exchange of sensitive health data in a post-Dobbs era. Critical considerations need to be made regarding policies, workflows, technology, regulations, education, engagement, risks, mitigations, and care delivery. During this session, we discussed the need for alignment of what is working, where there are opportunities to make impact, and how we can support one another during this uncertain time.
This Roundtable was one of a multipart series which is intended to be engaging, a place to bring questions, and an opportunity to uncover important actions.
In case you missed this event, or want to revisit the discussion, materials are now available!
October Network News
October Network News
On Wednesday, October 19, Civitas Networks for Health members from across the country gathered virtually for our monthly all-member forum, Network News. At Network News, we introduced new members and heard from member organizations CyncHealth and Innsena on their work done in partnership with Collective Medical to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality in Omaha, NE. The presentation featured details of their partnership, initial work, and plans for expanding efforts.
Civitas Networks for Health Celebrates Continued Growth
Celebrating Continued Civitas Membership Growth
Civitas Networks for Health is excited to share that we have continued to grow our network throughout our inaugural year.
Civitas Networks for Health is excited to share that we have continued to grow our network throughout our inaugural year. We have welcomed 14 additional new members Civitas Networks for Health since our last update on membership growth in May. Please join us in welcoming the following organizations:
- 211 San Diego/Community Information Exchange
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
- CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
- Centralis Health
- Cotiviti
- Data Across Sectors for Health
- Foundation for Health Care Quality
- HI-BRIDGE HIE
- Kno2
- KUMA
- Outcome Healthcare
- Surescripts
- Tiger Institute
- Michigan Public Health Institute Center for Health Equity
These new Civitas members cover all three membership types and are already becoming involved in Civitas educational and networking opportunities. We look forward to collaborating across our entire network and further engaging our newest members.
As a reminder, all Civitas members have access to the full list of member organizations in the Member Directory within the Member Area.
To best meet the needs of new and renewing members we are no longer accepting applications in 2022. Stay tuned to hear about opportunities to join the Network in 2023.
October Public Policy Briefing
October Public Policy Briefing
Unable to attend, or want to revisit the conversation? Materials are now available!
Civitas Networks for Health Announces Grant Award to Lead Implementation and Dissemination of Gravity Project® SDOH Standards
Civitas Networks for Health Announces Grant Award to Lead Implementation and Dissemination of Gravity Project® SDOH Standards
Advancing infrastructure to support public health, health systems, and community organizations
Jolie Ritzo, Senior Director of Network Engagement
Civitas Networks for Health
207-491-9979
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
Washington, DC — Today Civitas Networks for Health announced that the non-profit national organization has received a ~$1M award from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to further the implementation and dissemination of Gravity Project social determinants of health (SDOH) standards.
When Civitas launched in Oct. 2021 through the formal affiliation of the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement and the Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative, the newly formed organization set a goal to seek grant funding for programs that are strategically aligned with the work of its members and key priority areas for the national network and industry in advancing health equity through data-driven health improvement and information exchange.
Civitas also recently announced a letter of intent with the Gravity Project and Health Level 7® International (HL7®). In addition to being a national multistakeholder collaborative, Gravity Project is an HL7 Fast Health Interoperability Resources (FHIR) Accelerator. HL7 convenes and works with communities and implementers with an interest in using FHIR to address common use cases through the FHIR Accelerator program. Civitas plans to partner with the parties on implementation, dissemination, and learning communities.
Civitas Networks for Health Board Chair and CEO of Contexture Melissa Kotrys said, “The opportunities this award brings are so well aligned with the Civitas mission and future direction. We strongly support the advancement of SDOH data exchange, standards, and social care through our network of health data and information exchange implementers across the country.”
“We are grateful for the support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) which will help communities leverage existing health data and interoperability infrastructure and strengthen learning communities to accelerate adoption of Gravity Project standards,” notes Civitas CEO Lisa Bari. “The Gravity Community has long said that we may identify social risks in clinical settings, but we solve them in communities. Now that the Gravity Project has crafted data standards to identify and address social risks, we must support communities with
sustainable and equitable implementation. We are thankful that Civitas, with support from RWJF, will offer direct support to communities central in this work,” highlights Sarah DeSilvey,
Director of Terminology, for the Gravity Project.
Civitas will partner closely with Gravity Project leadership to support implementation work already underway and to build on the tremendous work that has been accomplished by the national collaborative to date.
The 12-month project which kicks off Nov. 1, 2022, will provide opportunity for shared learning, training and technical assistance, and in-person multi-stakeholder convenings. Civitas will center presentations and learning opportunities around the project at its 2023 Annual Conference which will be held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National
Harbor, Maryland. The event will take place from Aug. 20-23, 2023. Civitas recently held their first hybrid Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas. The event attracted over 800 in-person and virtual attendees and was focused on advancing health equity through data-led collaboratives and health information exchange.
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About Civitas Networks for Health
Civitas Networks for Health is a national collaborative comprised of member organizations working to use health information exchange, health data, and multi-stakeholder, cross-sector approaches to improve health. Civitas was previously known as the Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative and the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement, and today represents more than 180 local health innovators from across the US, moving data to improve health outcomes for more than 95% of the U.S. population. Civitas educates, promotes, and influences both the private sector and policy makers on matters of interoperability, quality, coordination, health equity, and cost-effectiveness of health care. Working with health innovators at state and local levels, Civitas facilitates the exchange of valuable resources, tools, and ideas—and offers a national perspective on upcoming standards and regulations, emerging technologies, and best practices. For more information, visit https://www.civitasforhealth.org/
About Gravity Project
The Gravity Project (Gravity) was launched in January 2019 by the Social Interventions Research and Evaluation Network (SIREN) and EMI Advisors with funding from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Gravity became an HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability (FHIR) Accelerator Project in August 2019 to advance the availability and use of SDOH data using FHIR-based Application Program Interfaces (APIs). Gravity was created in response to the need of health systems to document, exchange, and use structured and coded individual-level social risk and social needs data. It is a multi-stakeholder public collaborative of 2,000+ participants from across the health and human services ecosystem focused on developing, testing, and validating standardized SDOH data for use in patient care, care coordination between health and human services sectors, population health management, public health, value-based payment, and clinical research.
Civitas Networks for Health One Year Anniversary
Celebrating One Year as Civitas Networks for Health
Thank you to our members and partners for making our first year as a new organization a great success!
We are excited to share some of our progress since we officially began operations as Civitas Networks for Health in October 2021. We started with the support of our 2022 Transition Board and the development of our strategic plan. Through this exercise, we set goals around three key pillars: strong organization, thriving network, and influential voice. The highlights below fit into our vision for our opening year, and though this is only a fraction of our accomplishments together with our members, we hope you will join us in celebrating!
Strong Organization
We formed a Nominating Committee, opened nominations for the new 2023 Board of Directors, announced a slate of highly qualified candidates from full member organizations, managed voting, and announced our new Board at the September Network News event.
Our team grew, and we secured talented leaders and staff:
- Lisa Bari was officially named Chief Executive Officer of Civitas Networks for Health after successfully leading us through the affiliation of SHIEC and NRHI.
- Jolie Ritzo and Jessica Little, each formerly with the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement for six years, were promoted to Senior Director roles overseeing Network Engagement and Business Development and Programs, respectively.
- Heidi Penix joined us in January as our Grants and Program Manager and has since helped lead us to successfully manage new and existing grant deliverables and identify new funding opportunities.
- Niurka Lluveras-Hernandez (Nikki) joined us in June as the Operations Manager and hit the ground running to effectively manage member operations and aid us in further growing our team.
- Cora Bauman continued her role as Project Coordinator, supporting management of the Annual Conference, membership operations, and program planning.
We secured grant funding for programs to support COVID-19 response through partnerships with The Rockefeller Foundation and Institute for Healthcare Improvement. With support from the Maryland Health Care Commission, we are currently developing a Health Data Utility Framework.
Additionally, the team has supported ongoing grant programs in partnership with The Association for State and Territorial Health Officials, Institute for Health Improvement, and The Rockefeller Foundation.
Thriving Network
We have loyal and highly engaged members. Thank you to our many members who stayed with us through the transition to become one leading national network. We retained 99% of our full members!
Our network of members continues to grow! We have 21 new members: 3 Full, 8 Affiliate, and 10 Strategic Business and Technology Partners. Welcome to our new members, and please check out the member section of the website for more information.
We built our knowledge base of our member’s work by collecting important information from members about areas of focus, designations, governance, and more. 79% of full and affiliate members have completed their member information form, and 55% of SB&T members have completed their member information form.
We hosted 39 virtual events, with a reach of over 800 unique individuals.
- 11 Network News All-Member Meetings
- 8 Member Roundtables
- 4 Collaboratives in Action
- 3 Public Policy Briefings
- 7 Member-Led Webinars
- 6 events in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation to support school reopening with COVID-19 testing
We continued to support five existing workgroups and councils and stood up four new ones.
We had our first Annual Conference in partnership with the DirectTrust Summit. The hybrid event was fantastic!
- We had 847 people register for our event! 210 registered for virtual attendance and 637 registered to attend onsite.
- We sold over 90% of available sponsorship opportunities.
- We heard from 158 speakers through both on-demand and live sessions.
- 96% of attendees were satisfied with this year’s event.
Influential Voice
Our government relations team secured 50 meetings with congressional staffers to introduce Civitas and to further discuss our policy priorities. We also formed a Government Relations and Advocacy Council with named Council members and new Co-Chairs.
Civitas presented on the national stage 12 times, both virtually and in-person. We have had six national media mentions.
We hosted events with leaders from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (the CMS Innovation Center), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and CDC Foundation, and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and many partners and members.
We want to thank our members and partners again for contributing to our success. Your engagement makes our work possible, and we are honored to support you at the national level. With Civitas Networks for Health, we continue to focus on Regional Innovation, National Impact.
