Overview
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has created an internal Behavioral Health Information Sharing Advisory Group to help improve care coordination. This group is focused on developing a strategy to support integrated care and services by enabling the electronic sharing of behavioral health information between providers. This is a critical step in supporting the coordinated care model, and realizing the goal of better health, better care and lower costs for everyone.
As the state and providers begin to integrate the delivery of behavioral and physical health, it will be important to be able to share health information between providers to make sure that care is coordinated well for patients.
Many providers are exchanging behavioral health information through non-electronic means but fewer providers share behavioral health information electronically because of misconceptions about the restrictions imposed under state and federal laws, Electronic Health Record incompatibility, and limited knowledge about existing technological solutions. Because providers do not fully understand the laws about information sharing, there is a missed opportunity to provide the highest level of coordinated care.
Many providers in the state would like guidance about behavioral health information sharing and the intersection of state and federal law, especially around information sharing of substance use, diagnoses and treatment. For more information, please reference the group's Fact Sheet.