Two states advance EHR-based health data sharing initiatives
Louisiana providers agree to use a new Epic service to share data, while Washington advances plan for a statewide project.
States are beginning to take more active roles to ensure that patients have access to their health information and, in a couple cases, piggybacking off providers’ wide use of Epic information systems to do so.
Most recently, healthcare organizations in Louisiana have announced plans to participate in a joint effort to enable patients to have a single, secure way to access their medical records, communicate with care teams and manage their care.
This and other initiatives line up with Epic’s efforts to facilitate data exchanges, both between providers using its systems and more broadly. The use of its technology provides an easier way for patients to use their existing linkages with providers with Epic systems to access their healthcare information across states.
Louisiana’s approach
Providers in Louisiana are supporting a statewide launch of MyChart Central, an Epic application that will give consumers the ability to access medical records by using a single set of credentials based in a patient’s Epic ID. The company says the sign-in approach will be based on passkeys and biometrics, such as face identification.
Consumers who use the approach will be able to update their information across organizations, which means they won’t need to update demographic information with any other provider in the system. The system also will ensure that clinical information will follow the patient to any new participating provider, and it will facilitate the ability to share health records with different health applications.
Key to the success of the system is the wide participation by providers in the state, officials say, anticipating that the initiative will make communication of medical information easier for patients who see multiple providers.
“Too often, the burden is placed on the patient,” says Bruce Greenstein, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health. “I’m thankful that many of our health systems teamed up, worked together and made an aspect of healthcare easier.”
Providers in the state say that more than 2.5 million Louisianans use MyChart to manage their care, access test results, schedule and check in for appointments, message their providers, request prescription refills, pay bills and more. MyChart Central simplifies the user experience they already know with a single sign-in and a united view across organizations.
Provider organizations in the state participating in the initiative include Baton Rouge General; Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System; Lake Charles Memorial Health System, LCMC Health; North Oaks Health System; Ochsner Health System; St. Tammany Parish Hospital; Terrebonne General Medical Center; and Woman’s Hospital.
Washington’s state effort
In addition, efforts are underway in Washington state to use Epic to better share information for some of the state’s residents. The state program is expected to begin implementation in the first quarter of 2026, with providers going live early in 2027.
The Washington State Health Care Authority has announced its intention to use Epic’s platform to support its Connect Program, which will be a statewide electronic health record implementation intended to enhance care services providers and patients.
The state program initially will focus on the nearly 2 million members on its Medicaid roles that frequently use its services, or those of the state’s Department of Social and Health Services or its Department of Corrections.
The Health Care Authority says it’s planning to use the Epic platform “with shared governance and resources … to improve healthcare coordination between providers and allow the state to provide high-quality care more effectively for Apple Health (Medicaid program) clients being served by community providers.”
The authority says contracted providers will have access to the Epic EHR platform through its instance, “allowing smaller healthcare organizations to access the full capabilities of the Epic EHR system.” Predicted benefits include better patient care because of streamlined workflows, enhanced data access, interoperability with other healthcare systems, patient engagement features and reduced administrative burdens. The authority expects its system to interoperate with the systems of providers using different vendors.
Other initiatives at Epic
The Verona, Wis.-based technology vendor sees these efforts as early tests of its ability to enable information exchange in different locales, whether they be rural areas, states or even countries. At its Users Group Meeting in August, the company said it was pursuing initiatives in Ireland, Singapore and in two provinces of Canada.
Last month, Epic enabled providers in Madison, Wis., to share patient health information via a test of the MyChart Central platform.
At its September Open@Epic event, Epic revealed more plans to enable simplified patient-driven data connections and continued expansion of interoperability.
In the past year, more than 745 billion data exchanges took place using Epic’s publicly available APIs. With the goal of expanding this, Seth Hain, Epic’s senior vice president of research and development, highlighted future releases of enhanced developer tools, patient driven features that simplify data sharing and more public APIs.
Epic reports that it supports healthcare organizations in 16 countries, with more than 3,300 hospitals using Epic and more than 195 million patients using Epic's MyChart patient portal to manage their care online.
Additionally, Epic is facilitating interoperability through its role as an operator of a qualified health information network, one of nine that formally completed applications to meet requirements of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), established to fulfill health data exchange requirements in the 21st Century Cures Act.