LANSING, Mich., Oct. 27, 2023 — Yesterday, state Rep. Julie Rogers (D-Kalamazoo) chair of the House Health Policy Committee, introduced House Bill 5823 alongside Minority Vice Chair state Rep. Curt VanderWall’s (R-Ludington) HB 5824, which would create a Michigan Health Data Utility (HDU) to combine, enhance and exchange electronic health data for various purposes, including treatment, care coordination, quality improvement and public health.
The bills move beyond a simple health information exchange model as currently operated by the Michigan Health Information Network (MiHIN) Shared Services, and implementing an HDU provides the opportunity to modernize Michigan’s public health data collection and ensure nearly instant and secure medical record sharing with health care providers.
“Most of us have experienced a family member or found ourselves in situations where our medical team is flying blindly without a full picture of our medical history, including what medications we are on, allergies we may have and surgical procedures in our history. Often, medical decisions are made based on limited information that can have literally life-and-death consequences,” Rogers said. “These bills strengthen the existing framework that has already been established in Michigan under MiHIN and are a significant step forward in ensuring comprehensive health data is shared seamlessly, no matter the health care setting, so that the whole person can be evaluated and treated in a comprehensive, individualized manner.”
By synthesizing and sharing this data through an HDU, Michigan will drive down costs, improve health outcomes, reinforce the whole-person care model of medicine, and strengthen coordination between various health care providers and settings.
According to M. Salim Siddiqui, M.D., Ph.D., and president of the Michigan State Medical Society, “Interoperability is a cornerstone for advancing care delivery, bolstering patient safety and elevating satisfaction for patients and health care providers alike. To enable the seamless sharing of vital health information across systems and stakeholders, it is vital that state laws evolve to build a regulatory framework conducive to fostering interoperability and data exchange within the healthcare ecosystem. We applaud Rep. Rogers for her dedication to enhancing system interaction, ultimately benefiting patient care.”
The bills have been referred to the House Health Policy Committee.