The sharing of data and records between California healthcare providers has grown in the last decade, but there’s still plenty of work to be done, says the state’s Little Hoover Commission.

Despite the growth of programs that incentivize and fund the sharing of records among health care providers, the Little Hoover Commission found that just 26 percent of Medi-Cal providers are connected to one of eight qualified Health Information Organizations (HIO), which securely share data and records.

Since 2011, programs like the California Technical Assistance Program and Medi-Cal Promoting Interoperability Program have poured over $1 billion in state and federal funds into helping Medi-Cal professionals purchase, install, and use electronic records.

California has also dedicated $50 million in state funds to the California Health Information Exchange Onboarding Program (Cal-HOP), which aims to increase the number of Medi-Cal providers exchanging data, bolster data-exchanging capabilities for Medi-Cal providers that already participate in HIOs, and provide access to Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) prescription drug monitoring database.

In addition to increasing access to healthcare records, the Little Hoover Commission urged policymakers to follow through on customer service recommendations it made in 2015 to expand and improve delivery platforms. Read