What You Should Know:
– In a development being called a “Golden Spike” moment, two of Texas’ largest Health Information Exchanges (HIEs)—C3HIE and the Texas Health Services Authority (THSA)—have signed a historic agreement for the bidirectional sharing of encounter event messages for treatment purposes.
– The collaborative approach represents a fundamental shift from proprietary data silos to an open, patient-centered ecosystem where interoperability serves the greater good of Texas healthcare.
3 Transformative Benefits for Patients and Providers
The agreement delivers three key benefits to HIE subscribers, providers, and the patients they serve:
- Improved Care Through Broader Visibility: Participating organizations will receive vital encounter information from across both networks for the first time, giving clinicians a more complete picture of a patient’s health journey. This enhanced visibility supports better care coordination, reduces unnecessary duplication, and helps providers intervene earlier, ultimately improving outcomes and lowering costs.
- Seamless Care for Traveling Texans: The agreement ensures Texans receive seamless, informed care no matter where they go. Providers gain complete visibility into a patient’s encounters whether they happen down the street or across the state.
- Power of Scale Through Simplicity: Subscribers gain comprehensive event notifications from both HIE networks through One connection. One pipe. One contract.. This unified approach reduces administrative complexity while expanding data value.
Open Invitation to Strengthen Texas Data Infrastructure
The bidirectional data sharing agreement enables the real-time exchange of encounter event messages between C3HIE and THSA networks. The combined initiative creates a unified interoperability fabric that preserves room for innovation in HIE services, reporting, and analytics. The door is open for all HIEs to participate and grow this network, strengthening the data infrastructure upon which advanced analytics and value-based care depend.
“The days of being locked into data only from one HIE are over,” said Phil Beckett, CEO, THSA. “Participating with either C3HIE or THSA now makes you part of the largest interoperability network in Texas, with the continuity, visibility, and clinical support needed to care for patients wherever they go.”
An Open Invitation
