\u2022 HIEs are increasingly serving<\/strong> as critical state, regional and national healthcare infrastructure.\u00a0 Next week, the 2026 Civitas Annual Conference<\/a> arrives at an important time for health information exchanges (HIEs) and health data collaboratives.<\/p>\n For years, these organizations have provided much of the infrastructure that allows health information to move among providers, health systems and communities. Much of that work happens quietly in the background. As Healthcare IT Today recently noted<\/a><\/em>, clinicians may have access to information from outside organizations without realizing that an HIE helped make that data available at the point of care.<\/p>\n When healthcare leaders gather September 22 to 24 in Arlington, Virginia, for Civitas 2026, the agenda suggests that the conversation will increasingly focus on what that infrastructure can enable next.<\/p>\n Healthcare IT Today identifies several issues likely to drive discussion at Civitas, including Medicaid changes, the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), TEFCA and QHINs, the CMS technology ecosystem and other interoperability initiatives.<\/p>\n Together, they point toward a broader role for HIEs in turning national and state healthcare priorities into practical solutions for individual communities.<\/p>\n The Civitas agenda reinforces that shift, with sessions examining how health data infrastructure can support everything from care coordination and social care to value based care and better patient outcomes.<\/p>\n As HIEs take on more responsibilities, the quality and consistency of the information moving through their networks becomes increasingly important.<\/p>\n One Civitas session will examine how Healthix<\/a>, which connects thousands of healthcare organizations across New York State, achieved more than 90 percent USCDI aligned standardization. The session will explore how collaboration, transparency and structured data quality improvement can strengthen interoperability while providing more reliable information for care coordination, alerts and value-based care.<\/p>\n This example illustrates how the conversation around interoperability is evolving. Successfully exchanging information remains essential, but organizations increasingly need data that is standardized, trusted and usable<\/strong> for a growing range of healthcare needs.<\/p>\n That evolution is captured particularly well by another Civitas session, \u201cFrom Data Exchange to Patient Impact: The Power of Patient Centered Data Home<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The Patient Centered Data Home initiative connects HIEs across the country so patient information can follow individuals as they receive care across state and regional boundaries.<\/p>\n The session will examine how that infrastructure can close information gaps, strengthen whole person care coordination and contribute to better patient outcomes. This emphasis on impact is significant. As HIE capabilities expand, demonstrating value will increasingly involve showing how connected data improves decisions, workflows, care coordination and ultimately the experiences of patients and communities.<\/p>\n Rural health will also take center stage at Civitas 2026. Carrie Cochran McClain, chief policy officer of the National Rural Health Association<\/a>, will deliver a keynote examining the state of rural healthcare and the opportunities created by RHTP.<\/p>\n Healthcare IT Today similarly identifies RHTP as an important opportunity for the Civitas community. HIEs and health collaboratives can potentially help states address longstanding challenges involving access, legacy data systems, workforce shortages and the digital divide. The conference also gives states an opportunity to learn from the different approaches being taken with rural health funding.<\/p>\n For HIEs, RHTP represents an opportunity<\/a> to think beyond individual projects and consider how investments made today can strengthen data infrastructure that supports rural providers and communities well into the future.<\/p>\n Data quality, social care integration, cross region exchange and rural health transformation may represent different parts of the Civitas agenda, but they all depend on healthcare organizations having information they can trust and use.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n That is particularly important as HIEs expand beyond exchange to support analytics, quality improvement, population health, AI and other services. Civitas itself is highlighting organizations that move data into action, improve quality, strengthen governance and break down data silos as part of its 2026 Community Excellence Awards.<\/p>\n IMAT Solutions will be a Silver Sponsor at Civitas 2026, where we will be showcasing<\/a> how stronger data quality can help HIEs prepare for this expanding role.<\/p>\n The IMAT Health Data Quality Assessment<\/a><\/strong> for HIEs provides a measurable baseline across five key areas, including data integration, normalization, completeness, accuracy and AI readiness.<\/strong> The assessment helps HIEs identify gaps and prioritize opportunities to strengthen the data foundation supporting current and future services.<\/p>\n We will also be sharing a preview of IMAT Trailblazer<\/strong>, a new initiative designed to help HIEs automate more of the data journey while exploring new opportunities to create value from high quality, trusted data. As HIEs look for sustainable ways to expand their services, Trailblazer is being developed to help reduce the effort required to prepare and deliver data while opening potential new revenue opportunities with health plans.<\/p>\n Attending Civitas 2026? Connect with the IMAT Solutions team<\/a> in Arlington to learn more about the Health Data Quality Assessment<\/a>, get an early look at IMAT Trailblazer and discuss how your HIE can turn more of its healthcare data into trusted, actionable information.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Additional Insights\u00a0<\/strong><\/small><\/p>\n \u2022 IMAT to Showcase Health Data Quality for HIEs at Civitas 2026<\/a> Top Takeaways \u2022 HIEs are increasingly serving as critical state, regional and national healthcare infrastructure.\u00a0\u2022 Data quality and standardization are becoming more important as HIEs support more sophisticated uses of healthcare data.\u00a0\u2022 The focus is expanding from exchanging information to using connected data to improve care coordination and patient outcomes.\u00a0\u2022 Rural Health Transformation is creating opportunities for HIEs and other organizations to build infrastructure that can support rural communities over the long term.\u00a0\u2022 As the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":89939,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[202],"tags":[306,583,584,504,376,466,330,356,499,283,601,600,563,565],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imatsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89936"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imatsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imatsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imatsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imatsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89936"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/imatsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89938,"href":"https:\/\/imatsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89936\/revisions\/89938"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imatsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imatsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imatsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imatsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u2022 Data quality and standardization are becoming more important<\/strong> as HIEs support more sophisticated uses of healthcare data.\u00a0
\u2022 The focus is expanding from exchanging information to using connected data<\/strong> to improve care coordination and patient outcomes.\u00a0
\u2022 Rural Health Transformation is creating opportunities for HIEs and other organizations to build infrastructure <\/strong>that can support rural communities over the long term.\u00a0
\u2022 As the role of HIEs grows, trusted and usable data will be essential to delivering greater value.\u00a0<\/strong><\/small><\/small><\/p>\nHIEs Move from Behind the Scenes to Center Stage<\/h3>\n
Data Quality and Standardization Move to the Forefront<\/h3>\n
Moving From Data Exchange to Patient Impact<\/h3>\n
Rural Health Transformation Creates a Major Opportunity<\/h3>\n
Trusted Data Connects the Conversations<\/h3>\n
Meet IMAT at Civitas 2026<\/h3>\n
\n
\n\u2022 Why AI Ready Data is the Key to Hitting Population Health KPIs<\/a>
\n\u2022 Interoperability in 2026: Progress, Gaps, and What It Means for Closing Care Gaps<\/a>
\n\u2022Health IT Answers: Why Data Intelligence Is the Missing Link in Healthcare Modernization<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"