Following months of planning, the Colorado Regional Health Information Exchange (CORHIO) and Arizona’s Health Current introduced their new joint regional exchange, Contexture, on Tuesday. The two health information exchanges (HIEs) announced the “strategic alignment” of their organizations in September 2020 and have been in the development process since.
The two state-based exchanges created Contexture to take advantage of their geographic proximity and consolidate their data to reach a broader array of individuals and communities.
They provided a definition of the word “contexture” to explain why they chose the name: “The manner of being woven or linked together to form a connected whole.”
Contexture will provide health information services to approximately 1,800 health care organizations across Colorado and Arizona. It will have an Innovation Department to adapt to stakeholder needs and ensure state agencies like Medicaid are adequately served, as well as a Customer Experience Department that will maintain high standards of service.
Health Current CEO Melissa Kotrys is Contexture’s CEO and CORHIO CEO Morgan Honea is its executive vice president. It is governed by a 19-member Board of Directors led by Lisa Brown, the vice president of strategy and growth at STRIDE Community Health Center. The board members represent large health systems, behavioral health providers, labs, state government agencies, and safety net providers from throughout Colorado and Arizona.
Kotrys spoke to the significance of the partnership.
“As a new regional organization, Contexture has the potential to serve communities as the largest health information organization in the West. For decades we have empowered providers with information on millions of unique patients and today are in a position to better serve the needs of national payers, health systems and state and federal agencies.”
Honea said:
“I am excited to bring new services and offerings to our communities, including our new Innovation team, which possesses unparalleled expertise on how state and healthcare policy, financing, and operations work. This will be a tremendous resource for Arizona, Colorado and beyond.”