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Associations are increasingly seeking strategic alliances with other associations to leverage resources and maximize member benefits. “Alliance building” has been characterized as one of the 7 measures of success for great associations (see 7 Measures of Success: What Remarkable Associations Do That Others Don't).This is actually a key objective of NASCIO - we build alliances and collaborate with a number of other associations and organizations on joint initiatives. Today’s post exemplifies a recent alliance with HIMSS by way of an interview with Chad Grant, Senior Policy Analyst for NASCIO and Pam Matthews who serves as the Senior Director, Informatics for the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

On June 12, 2013, Pam and Chad presented at the Government Health IT Conference and discussed the results of the 2013 HIMSS-NASCIO State Health Initiatives Survey: Through the Lens of the State CIO. Here’s what Pam and Chad had to say about this collaboration.

Q. How did this survey come about?

Pam:   In August of 2012, HIMSS proposed a collaboration with NASCIO to design and execute a national survey of state chief information officers and/or other identified state level representatives.

Chad: Both NASCIO and HIMSS agreed to produce a report summarizing the results of an online survey of the various parties involved with state health information exchanges and the key issues of importance to them.

Q  How was the survey developed and what did it cover?

Pam: It was agreed the survey would consist of sections reflecting the landscape of state’s information technology activities supporting healthcare initiatives. The collaborative effort was led by HIMSS staff, NASCIO staff, and the NASCIO Health Care Working Group. The categories included current policy issues, HIE/HIT/HIX and other healthcare related priorities, business issues, progress updates, governance, and emerging trends.

Chad: The target audience was State Level Health Information Exchange (SLHIE) leaders and those leaders involved with other State HIT initiatives that intersected with the SLHIE activities. Invitations to complete an online survey of questions were sent through the use of NASCIO and HIMSS supplied contact lists. The invitations were sent electronically by both HIMSS and NASCIO and recipients had about 2 months to respond.

Pam: Some questions or information from previous HIMSS and NASCIO surveys and issue briefs were used for baseline comparisons or as background information. Final questions were developed by the collaborative working group.

Chad: We made sure the questions would not be overly burdensome to the respondents as to encourage participation.  I think we were successful in that effort as you can tell by the number of participants.

Pam: That’s right and we’re very happy with the response rate.  Representatives from 26 U.S. States and Territories completed the survey, representing a 48 percent participation rate for the total targeted population.  Participants represented a cross-section of the United States without a concentration from a single geographic region. 

What did you present at the recent GHIT conference?

Pam:  Our presentation addressed the preliminary results and insights from the NASCIO and HIMSS survey collaboration focusing on the general landscape of information technology supporting State healthcare initiatives.

Chad:  Today, states are facing many pressures and challenges in addressing their broad scope of responsibility ranging from healthcare to public safety. Each state’s unique perspective helps guide their approach to projects, and impacts ways they leverage information technology.   State Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are front and center with shaping state strategies and use of information technology to achieve their goals.   

Pam: As we discussed at GHIT, the results of this collaborative survey will serve those seeking to understand the current environment of state healthcare technology initiatives ranging from governance models to Medicaid projects and data exchange activities.  This analysis will also facilitate understanding of the intersection of the State CIO’s role with state HIT projects. 

Chad: We also discussed how this collaboration represents one of the first comprehensive analyses focused on the State CIO perspective on state HIT projects. The survey was completed either personally by the State CIO or in collaboration with other designated participants. Even though the results do not necessarily represent all states, the white paper presents the findings of the survey participants representing nearly half of the target population and provides valuable information on current state activities.  

Copies of the new survey, “The Health IT Landscape in the States: Through the Lens of the State CIO,” released by NASCIO and HIMSS is available for download on NASCIO’s website at www.nascio.org/publications and on the HIMSS website in the HIMSS HIE Toolkit.