October 26, 2011
Statewide HIE Contract Awarded to Community Health Alliance

Community Health Alliance, Inc. (CHA) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract by the Virginia Department of Health for the Statewide Health Information Exchange (HIE). Specific services to be provided by CHA include establishing a Statewide HIE governance structure, creating and staffing the Statewide HIE organization, implementing the technical infrastructure, and managing the Statewide HIE’s operations on an ongoing basis.

CHA is a Virginia-based 501(c)(3) organization that was created by a consortium of not-for-profit hospitals in 2002 to improve access to healthcare services and resources for those in need. CHA’s board chair, Michael Spine, stated, “For many years, our team has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to improving the health of Virginians through the use of health IT and HIE. Our experience and expertise align precisely with the Commonwealth’s Strategic and Operational Plans for Statewide HIE that led to this milestone occasion.”

CHA will utilize certain strategic consulting and technology partners in this contract including:

MEDfx: Professional IT services to support the implementation, certification, onboarding and ongoing operations of the HIE technical infrastructure.

MedVirginia: Business and technical operations support services, assistance with developing sustainability models, and well as consulting with the Governing Body on creation of governance and management structures.

Troutman Sanders, LLP: Key input to the Governing Body in areas of governance, and legal and policy development.

Verizon Connected Healthcare Solutions: Verizon Health Information Exchange solution, a cloud-based, interoperable platform that enables the secure electronic exchange of patient data.

In addition, Ms. Sandy McCleaf, MBA, has been named Executive Director of the Statewide HIE. She is employed by CHA and will be accountable to the Statewide HIE’s Governing Body once it is established. Michael Matthews, CHA’s CEO, stated, “The Statewide HIE is fortunate to have Sandy in this role as she has been deeply involved in our team’s HIE successes in recent years. The combination of her thorough understanding of national health information exchange policy issues and her technical expertise makes her the ideal choice to guide the collective resources of our partners towards operational excellence and financial sustainability for the Statewide HIE.”

For more information on Community Health Alliance, please visit www.CHA-VA.org.

For more information on the Commonwealth’s HIE Strategic and Operational Plans for Statewide HIE please visit www.hits.virginia.gov.