Graphic of data flowing through outline of Utah

Author:

UHIN

Healthcare works best when information moves as seamlessly as care itself.

With the right data and context, decisions are made faster and with greater confidence. When organizations share information responsibly, operations become more efficient. When communities invest in shared infrastructure, everyone benefits.

That’s the promise of healthcare interoperability. Realizing this promise of a fully connected network requires more than just agreeing with the philosophy – it requires organizations to take specific, concrete actions to participate.

A Shared Vision for Better Care

Utah’s healthcare community has long understood something essential: no single organization delivers care alone.

Patients move across settings. Doctors collaborate across systems. Health plans support care across populations. Government partners steward statewide health priorities. Outcomes depend on timely, accurate information wherever care happens or when decisions about patient care are made.

Interoperability makes this possible not by replacing existing systems, but by connecting them. It creates a foundation where information flows securely, consistently, while supporting a myriad of use cases.

This foundation is what UHIN provides today.

Infrastructure That Grows Stronger Together

UHIN operates Utah’s health information highway, the Clinical Health Information Exchange, or, the CHIE.

Utah’s shared infrastructure gives healthcare organizations secure access to comprehensive patient records across organizational boundaries.

Utah’s health information highway is designed to support all organizations who assist in the care, treatment, and health of Utah’s patients, including different providers across different systems to work as a single team to support the care journey of their shared patients. Effective information exchange requires infrastructure that adapts to how different stakeholders actually work: providers making real-time clinical decisions, health plans coordinating care across populations, and public health agencies tracking community-level outcomes.

The CHIE is a Shared Network

Managing dozens of point-to-point integrations is expensive, creates operational drag, and limits visibility across the care continuum. A shared network offers a different model: one connection that enables information to move across care settings, organizations, and systems.

Utilizing the CHIE, clinicians gain access to timely patient context, health plans can better support coordinated care and quality efforts, and public partners gain clearer insight into healthcare activity across the state. This all makes coordination easier to manage at every handoff – Health Plan to Provider, Health Plan to Health Plan, and Health Plans and Providers to Public Health.

Common Governance Instead of Fragmented Agreements

Trust is foundational to healthcare information exchange. The CHIE establishes a consistent, locally governed framework that supports responsible data sharing. Rather than navigating a patchwork of agreements, policies, and exceptions, UHIN welcomes organizations to participate within clear standards that promote accountability, transparency, and confidence across the ecosystem.

You save costs that are related to manually responding to data access and data sharing requests, and eliminate the time and expense spent on multiple legal and data transfer agreements – the CHIE already has them.

Common Stewardship Instead of Vendor Dependency

Infrastructure should serve the community it supports, not shift direction with market cycles or commercial priorities. UHIN operates as a neutral, non-profit utility, ensuring that Utah’s healthcare connectivity remains guided by community needs. Providers, payers, and public stakeholders collectively shape how the network evolves, supporting long-term sustainability and adaptability.

Together, these principles transform interoperability from a technical capability into a shared asset that grows stronger as participation increases.

Help Shape the Future

How do you know if your organization is helping build the healthcare network we all want to improve health outcomes and reduce costs?

To start, you should ask yourself and members of your organization these five questions:

1. Are you realizing the full value of interoperability?

Compare the membership fee to what you would have to pay to establish separate legal agreements and interfaces with each agency that UHIN connects with or manually respond to and submit records requests.

2. Are you using shared data to improve patient outcomes?

Connecting the pipe is the first step to make a real clinical difference. The next step is integrating CHIE data into workflows ensures providers actively use shared context to make smarter, safer decisions.

For example, Granger Medical Clinic used CHIE ADT alerts to grow patient identification from one per week to 750 per month, cutting readmission rates by 61%.

Tanner Clinic and Connect TCM brought their average readmission rate down to 4% — far below Utah’s 13.9% and the national average of 14.6%.

3. Are you actively sharing?

Passive consumption helps one organization; active sharing strengthens care coordination, improves outcomes, and elevates the entire system. Sending ADT feeds, lab results, and patient records in real time ensures everyone has the information they need, when they need it. Sharing a comprehensive, high-quality record empowers better clinical decisions and reduces gaps in care.

4. How is this community asset funded?

Your financial support through donation or membership sustains the maintenance, innovation, and long-term growth of the data sharing infrastructure that serves us all. UHIN also applies for grants to support the important work the CHIE provides to our community.

5. Do you want to be more engaged, but don’t know how?

For Current CHIE Users: Assess if your organization is helping shape the future of interoperability by asking yourself the questions above. Then, log in at www.uhin.org today to experience the modernized CHIE Platform firsthand. If you need a hand with your account, please contact customer support.

For Former CHIE users or New Organizations: Visit the CHIE Platform page to get the information you need to get started. If you’re ready to connect to the CHIE, you can get started here.

The value to the community of the exchange is realized when every participant holds themselves accountable to these standards. Organizations that ensure their data is timely, complete, and accurate (and who financially support the infrastructure) are the ones shaping the future of Utah healthcare interoperability.

To join this vital cause, organizations must implement the following concrete steps:

1. Move from consumption to contribution: Care does not begin or end within organizational boundaries. The network is strongest when you contribute the timely, complete, and accurate data that the next provider in the chain needs. Organizations must connect to the CHIE and actively share data, specifically by setting up ADT feeds, patient records, and lab results.

2. Align your care teams: Healthcare is a team effort. Shared infrastructure enables collaboration, but only if your internal workflows support it. Ensure your teams are utilizing the data available in the CHIE to gain a complete picture of patient history.

3. Tackle community challenges together: Leaders who build community infrastructure recognize that progress accelerates when stakeholders work from a shared foundation. Participation strengthens not only individual organizations but the resilience and responsiveness of Utah’s healthcare system as a whole.

4. Commit to the infrastructure: If you are relying on the network but not supporting it, becoming a paying member ensures this resource remains available and robust for the long term.

These leadership choices shape how care is delivered today and how it will evolve tomorrow.

A New Chapter for the CHIE

For organizations that have connected to the CHIE in the past, now is the time to take a fresh look.

UHIN’s platform has been modernized and enhanced to better support today’s care delivery needs. The CHIE is more capable, FHIR-aligned, and better positioned to scale as the healthcare community grows. The CHIE is working to assess statewide membership and data quality to improve the data available to the community. Providers, health plans, and public partners engaging with the CHIE today are experiencing a network designed for the future of healthcare in Utah.

If you’ve tried it before, you may be surprised by how much better it is now.

Across Utah, organizations are already using shared infrastructure to support care delivery, coordination, and statewide initiatives.

Screen grab of CHIE dashboard — New CHIE Dashboard

Moving Forward, Together

Behind every data feed, every alert, and every shared record is a patient whose care depends on a connected, informed care team. Utah’s information highway is in place. Its power is unlocked when every organization on the care continuum commits to using it fully. That’s how interoperability becomes more than a technical achievement — it becomes a promise kept to the people we serve.

Here is how to get involved:

For Former CHIE users or New Organizations: Visit the CHIE Platform page to get the information you need to get started. If you’re ready to connect to the CHIE, you can get started here.