Kansas Health Institute | Information For Policy Makers. Health for Kansans.

The Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC) was established by an HHS contract with RTI International in June 2006.

In the first phase, the collaborative was comprised of teams representing 34 states (including Kansas) and territories that were each charged to:

• Assess variations in privacy and security related organizational-level business policies and state laws that affect health information exchange;

• Identify and propose practical solutions, while preserving the privacy and security requirements in applicable Federal and state laws; and

• Develop detailed plans to implement solutions.

Each HISPC participant was, and continues to be, required to have the support of its state or territorial governor and maintain a steering committee and contact with a range of local stakeholders to ensure that developed solutions accurately reflect local preferences.

In the second phase of the project, the 34 teams selected a foundational component of their larger implementation plan to be completed in a six-month time frame. During this time, additional participation was sought for the HISPC’s third phase, and new states and territories joined the original HISPC teams to review high-priority areas where multi-state collaboration could foster the development of common, replicable solutions.

In 2008, HISPC moved into its third phase. Forty-two states and territories comprise seven multi-state collaboratives that are addressing privacy and security challenges related to the electronic exchange of health information. Each project is designed to develop common, replicable multi-state solutions that have the potential to reduce variation in and harmonize privacy and security practices, policies, and laws. More information on the overall HISPC project can be found at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' HISPC Web site and the University of Kansas' Center for Healthcare Informatics HISPC Web page.

At the outset of this effort, KHI was designated by Governor Sebelius to serve as the coordinator of the HISPC grant to Kansas that involved a state-wide collaborative effort. The Center for Healthcare informatics at KUMC and the law firm of Lathrop & Gage, LLC, were the other primary partners on this grant.

Each state participating in HISPC maintained a steering committee and contact with a range of local stakeholders to ensure that developed solutions accurately reflect local preferences. In this third phase, Kansas participated with other states in collaborative efforts that focused on harmonizing privacy laws and consumer education and engagement. The legal collaborative developed tools to assist in the identification of state laws that may impede the promotion of HIT/HIE. The consumer collaborative addressed the consumer education needs of rural Kansans as they relate to privacy and security of health information. Other state collaborative efforts supported by HISPC included ones focused on informed consent, provider education, adoption of standard policies and inter-organizational agreements.

The major deliverables for this project from the Kansas project team can be found here. A full listing of the HISPC project reports are available here.