Understanding the HIE Landscape. Appendix B: Volunteer Position Description for CSA Health Information Exchange Representatives

Date: 10/24/09
Reports to: CSA Board of Directors

Position Summary:
The Component State Association representative for the health information exchange (HIE) serves to guide the HIE's efforts utilizing sound HIM principles that include protective measures that support the privacy and security of health information and provide a foundation to ensure health information integrity.

Responsibilities:

• Represent the CSA in the development of HIE initiatives and adoption of health information technologies to effectively support HIE.
• Serve in a consultative capacity when interacting with potential subscribers and members of the exchange network to derive effective policies in the areas of personal health records and exchange of information among authorized entities, providers, and health systems.
• Provide professional guidance in the development of policies and procedures for privacy and security of health information and maintaining its integrity.
• Participate in describing and defining data integrity rules, including but not limited to describing typical records, data, and document types that could be exchanged.
• Identify long-term opportunities to effectively model and use de-identified health information to promote public health initiatives and result in safer, higher quality, and more efficient delivery of healthcare.
• Serve as a resource for current efforts by health information technology and HIE standard development groups (e.g., ASTM, ONC, etc.).
• Collaborate with HIEs within the state to advocate for national policies that make sense for the HIM profession and support efficient, practical provision of healthcare treatment and business operations that results in quality data being used to improve patient care.
• Contribute to official HIE comments and responses to Congress, the state legislature, and federal and state agencies concerning technical standards that affect HIEs, EHRs, PHRs, and the development of the national health information network.
• Support the infrastructure design for evaluating and monitoring system security, privacy, and business continuity back-up systems.
• Guide HIE organization colleagues on practice variances across care settings.
• Educate colleagues and lead the challenge to ensure master person index (MPI) integrity, including developing system rules to ensure data integrity, managing MPI design, and ensuring maintenance and ongoing operations such as defining record location services.
• Contribute to policy development for HIE entities, including authentication, privacy, security, auditing, patient matching, opt-in/opt-out, complaint, and consent.
• Offer ideas on governance for the HIEs.
• Aid in grant writing.
• Serve as a liaison with the HIE legal, IT and workgroup on appropriate policy issues.
• Represent the CSA and HIM profession by attending technical meetings with the goal of guiding the scope of work in accordance with best practices for HIM, privacy, and security.
• Develop educational tools to be used to explain the HIE and use of its system for the participants of the HIE network.
• Develop educational materials to inform the CSA constituents and public of the HIE activities.
• Provide community education about HIEs (in general), EHRs, and PHRs, as a public service and outreach for the CSA.

Desired Qualifications:

• Commitment to working in a team environment with an ongoing emphasis on partnering and sharing work with colleagues
• Exemplary interpersonal skills that translate into positive relationships with colleagues
• Solid communication skills including the ability to concisely explain complicated concepts to executives and leaders within and outside of the HIE both in oral and written form
• Project management skills
• Ability to establish credibility and be viewed as a strategic health information expert
• HIE expertise and knowledge, particularly related to the role of health IT and HIE in improving quality
• An understanding of health information system interfaces, including test specific modules (e.g., laboratory, radiology, etc.) and controlled medical vocabularies
• A solid understanding of enterprise MPI and record locator service development
• Experience with a combination of clinical, health information, and information systems
• Knowledge of networking, health information exchange, and messaging and document standards
• Knowledge of HITSP component and base standards, the Nationwide Health Information Network, and health information privacy and security regulations

Developed by the HIE Practice Council-Privacy and Security Mission Critical Team 2009.

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