Florida Health Information Systems Council

Minutes, May 15, 2003

Membership: (§381.90, F.S.) 
The council shall be composed of the following members or their senior executive-level designees:
Secretary of the Department of Health (DOH) 
Director of the Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) 
Attorney General (AG) 
Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) 
Secretary of the Department of Children and Families (DCF) 
Secretary of the Department of Corrections (DC) 
Commissioner of Education (DOE) 
Secretary of the Department of Elder Affairs (DOEA) 
State Treasurer/Insurance Commissioner (DOI) 
Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) 
Executive Director of the Correctional Medical Authority (CMA) 
Two Representatives of County Health Departments (CHD) 
A Representative of Florida schools of public health chosen by the Board of Regents (BOR) 
A Representative of the Florida Association of Counties (FAC) 
A Representative of the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation

Council Members in Attendance:

Robert Anderson, representing the Attorney General’s Office
Lisa Gill representing the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation 
Dr. Michael Graven, representing University of South Florida, College of Public Health 
Debra Gressel, representing the Agency for Health Care Administration
Dr. John Heilman, representing Pinellas County Health Department 
Cretta Johnson, representing the Florida Association of Counties
William P. “Bud” Johnston, representing the Department of Elder Affairs
Cheryll Lesneski, representing Putnam County Health Department 
Allen Pearman, representing the Department of Health
Lori Schultz, representing Department of Children & Families
Rod Westall, representing the Department of Corrections

Council Members Absent:

Donald Bennett, representing the Correctional Medical Authority
Lee Cornman, representing the Department of Business and Professional Regulation
George Hinchliffe, representing the Department of Juvenile Justice
Ron McCord, representing the Commissioner of Education
State Treasurer/Insurance Commissioner representative

Others in Attendance: 

Janice Hays, Attorney General’s Office
Steven Mindlin, Rose, Sundstrom, & Bentley, LLP, Attorneys at Law

I. Call to Order and Welcome: 
Allen Pearman called the Florida Health Information Systems Council meeting to order at 1:05 pm and welcomed participants. [Note that meeting was held by telephone conference call.]

II. Roll Call: 

A formal roll call was conducted and attendees identified themselves and the organization they represented. A quorum was established and attendance is reflected above.

III. Approval of Minutes: 

The minutes of the Florida Health Information Systems Council meeting held November 14, 2001 were then reviewed.  Upon a formal motion and second, the minutes were approved as presented.

IV. Approval of charge to council informal workgroup to 
address issues related to data extraction and merging for 
state sponsored projects:

Without objection, the agenda order was modified and the council considered establishment and charge to a council workgroup to address issues related to data extraction and merger for state sponsored projects.

Two conference calls were held prior to the regularly scheduled council meeting.  The second conference call to draft a charge to the informal workgroup to address issues related to data extraction and merging for state sponsored projects was held on December 11, 2001, from 2-3:00 pm. Participants included: Dr. Michael Graven (USF, School of Public Health), Linda Nelson (Department of Health, CIO), William “Bud” Johnston (Department of Elder Affairs, CIO), Coleen Birch (Technology Review Workgroup), and Allen Pearman (Department of Health, Florida Health Information Systems Council).

It was generally agreed that the scope of workgroup activities should be limited to a review and evaluation of data extraction and merging capabilities of existing data bases and steps that could be taken to make use of existing data more timely and less costly for state sponsored research projects or required data based program evaluations. The scope does not include a review or analysis of the development of merged databases for more general research purposes. Further, the workgroup is to focus on the use of existing health related data (and is not charged with identifying additional data needs).

The committee should include need identification, review of best practices (of Florida agencies and other states), and review of current capabilities as key components in any final work product present for council consideration. The specific approach or methodology to address these issues is to be determined by the workgroup.

The specific priorities recommended as the result of discussion during the conference call on December 11, 2001 were as follows:

What are the existing state agency data structures especially as they relate to addressing need for analytical data?
What are the current practices employed by state agencies to address need for analytical data?
What are the current capabilities of state agencies to respond to requests for data extraction and merging for analytical purposes?  

It was further observed that multiple representatives might be required from some agencies such as AHCA (Medicaid) and DOH (Vital Statistics) to ensure that expertise and experience with specific databases are available to aid the development of any workgroup product. In addition, it was suggested that representation from Department of Management Services, Division of State Group Insurance be sought.

Upon formal motion and second, the workgroup was charged to proceed along the lines outlined during previous conference calls and as summarized for the council.

It was agreed that all interested parties would receive notice of workgroup meetings and conference calls. It was further agreed that the workgroup would report back to the council on a regular basis with a status report by the workgroup tentatively scheduled for the next regular council meeting (probably in March 2002).

Agencies agreed to seek additional representation from units specifically covered by the workgroup charge.

V. Review of DOEA Batch Data Loading Format and Content Standard: A data standards perspective

It was noted that the meeting materials included a document defining what Department of Elder Affairs (DEA) is proposing as standards for movement data between Providers and the DEA CIRTS system. 

What was presented (from a technical standpoint, anyway) should be a simple transaction to standardize. Mr. Johnston notes that we will probably see, however, this might not be as simple as one would think. The possible complexity is that we are not only talking about data standards, but also tools, protocols, etc.

Mr. Johnston suggested that the approach that should be taken would be to let the Florida Health Information Systems Council wrestle with the data standards only, and to let State Technology wrestle with tools, protocols, etc.

Two issues were identified during the discussion of the material presented by Mr. Johnston. The first was a need to further clarify the role and relationship between the Florida Health Information Systems Council and the State Technology Office in general and the specific responsibilities of each with regard to establishing and maintaining data standards especially as they relate to health related data. The second issue was the possible role that the Florida Health Information Systems Council workgroup might play in addressing at least some of the issues related to data standards.

Staff indicated that a “side-by-side” comparison of statutory language for the State Technology Office and Florida Health Information Systems Council, especially as it relates to the relationship between the entities and the role of each with regard to establishing, endorsing, and maintaining data standards.

VI. Status Report on Specific Health Data Sharing Efforts
Between State Agencies

No agency reports were presented.

VII. Other Business

A brief announcement was made that a delay in the deadline for compliance with the HIPAA transactions standards had been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate and is currently waiting the President’s signature.

A motion was then made (and seconded) to adjourn. Without objection, the meeting was adjourned at 2:10 p.m.

Summary of Pending Action Items:

1. Take steps necessary to identify specific membership for the FHISC workgroup to address issue related to data extraction and merging for state sponsored projects and similar issues that might be addressed by formally establishing and maintaining health related analytical data sets. Take steps necessary to schedule initial workgroup meetings.

2. Prepare and present side-by-side comparison of statutory provisions related to the F1. Take steps necessary to identify specific membership for the FHISC workgroup to address issue related to data extraction and merging for state sponsored projects and similar issues that might be addressed by formally establishing and maintaining health related analytical data.