Global leader in digital health technology Orion Health, is reshaping the landscape of US state health related data platforms and information exchanges with its new State Health Data Center of Excellence (SHDCoE). Focussed on collaboration and partnership, the SHDCoE, the first of its kind, will be a hub of innovation priming the state health organizations for the future.

Orion Health Global CEO Brad Porter said, “The SHDCoE will accelerate and drive innovative partnerships and foster collaboration to enable states to be fit for the future. We predict that the states will play the most pivotal part in healthcare over the next decade as Medicaid cements its position as the most influential and one of the largest players in the market. For the first time talent and technology converge in a focused Center designed to elevate state and regional Health Information Exchange (HIE) operations and services by driving the evolution of wider state health data initiatives across the US.”
Coinciding with the SHDCoE launch, Porter also announced that James Henderson will be joining Orion Health from Optum as SVP and General Manager, North America. Henderson is a significant hire and will be based in Dallas bringing extensive global healthtech experience from senior leadership roles in London, Los Angeles and Sydney.

“James will play a driving role in the SHDCoE and I know he and the team will bring fresh energy. Together, they will leverage Orion Health’s 30 years of US experience and global leadership in HIE drawing inspiration from successful projects and HIE leadership evolving HIEs to valuable health data platforms in the US, Canada, the UK and the Middle East,” says Porter.

To begin with, the SHDCoE will serve and support the most innovative health information exchanges from across the United States including SYNCRONYS in New Mexico, HealthInfoNet in Maine, KeyHIE in Pennsylvania, NDHIN in North Dakota, and IHDE in Idaho. The Center will also extend its impact by providing a unique shared HIE platform to existing and new customers, empowering regions and state health systems to be part of operational efficiency.

Porter says “industry-wide collaboration is critical to unlocking the right information at the right time and in the right place for carers to deliver the healthcare of the future.

“SHDCoE continues Orion Health’s strong commitment to industry collaboration. As a founding member of the Sequoia Project and long term member of the Civitas Network, interoperability has been at the heart of what we do, driven by our commitment to TEFCA.

“By bringing our trusted partners to the table for focused innovation on the solutions that are going to make the biggest difference to healthcare providers, our vision is to escalate delivery of our next-generation products that continue to be reliable, secure and revolutionary.

“We believe the real game changer for state health will be linking the powerful clinical data held in HIEs from providers with other data sources to provide state health authorities with a better understanding of health system capacity, patients’ needs and enable better patient outcomes. This could include data such as social determinants of health, geographic information, insurance claims from Medicaid and other payers, patient generated data, workforce planning and other public health initiatives.”

Orion Health will collaborate with SHDCoE partners using tools from its Health Intelligence Platform Orchestral to explore the potential of a state health data platform.

“As much as 97% of data in healthcare goes unused – through Orchestral we can aggregate all of a patient’s data alongside other social and environmental, and store it in a way that is accessible for AI, thereby transforming how organizations view their data, identify gaps in care and target resources more efficiently.

“Acting as a hub for all data, applications and services in a health system, Orchestral is the perfect tool to use to unlock the next generation of health information sharing in the United States,” continues Porter.
Orion Health is launching the State Health Data Center of Excellence at HIMSS24 in Orlando, Florida, from 11-15 March 2024