Chatting with IHIE Engagement Director Chuck Christian, Chapter 3

If the mark of a good leader is the ability to evolve, as many believe it is, then Chuck Christian may be one of the greatest. Throughout his career, he’s been a staunch advocate for state’s rights, and a firm believer that healthcare is provided locally, and therefore should be governed locally. But as someone who has been heavily involved in advancing data sharing (both as Director of Executive Engagement with the Indiana Health Information Exchange, as well as an active member of CHIME and HIMSS), he has seen the challenges created by the lack of an overarching consent model. And so, Chapter 2

Recently, we spoke with Christian about why he believes the patient-centered data home model could be a difference maker, the need for better education and more transparency when it comes to data access, and what he hopes to see from ONC’s proposed rule. He also provides his thoughts on CommonWell and Carequality, the obstacles still facing smaller facilities when it comes to federal regulations, and what he believes is the key to effective advocacy.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3



* Physician frustrations with the “spinning beach ball”

* TEFCA – “It was much more descriptive and complex than everybody thought.”

* Interoperability and the new “bucket of worms”

* Changing the policy discussion

* “Don’t just go in complaining – come in with good information.”

* IHIE & the “rising tide”

* His challenge to HHS



LISTEN NOW USING THE PLAYER BELOW OR CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR iTUNES PODCAST FEED

Bold Statements

They’ll say, ‘I sit here and watch the beach ball spin for five minutes, then it comes back and says no data has been found.’ Well, does that mean there’s nothing there, or that they couldn’t match data with that patient? After a number of times, they’ll stop looking.

ONC received a lot of comments about TEFCA — that it was much more descriptive and complex than everybody thought. And so it makes me wonder if the next iteration is going to be kinder and gentler.

If you look at some of the questions asked in the proposed rulemaking, you get the feeling they’re going to expand this into post-acute care and behavioral health as well, and that’s going to open up another bucket of worms.

They’ve done a really good job of engaging the industry and listening to a variety of stakeholders — not necessarily just the EHR vendors and the large health systems, but the community hospitals. I wish they did it a little bit more, particularly critical access hospitals, but they’re reaching out to them.

We need to find those common areas that we can share. It’s like the saying, ‘the rising tide raises all boats.’ But we also need to understand that what works well in one place may not work well in another.

Christian:  I’ve listened to a lot of physicians — particularly in the emergency room — who are connected to CommonWell and some of the other networks. What happens is, they go in and click the button to see if there’s data, and they just sit there. One of them said, ‘I sit here and watch the beach ball spin for five minutes, then it comes back and says no data has been found.’ Well, does that mean there’s nothing there at all, or that they couldn’t match data with that patient? After a number of times, they’ll stop looking, because they can either ask a question or have somebody to get the data to them,