(LINCOLN, Neb) On July 30-31, 2024, CyncHealth, a leading health data utility and the designated health information exchange for Nebraska and Iowa, joined Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services (NE DHHS) for a two-day strategic planning session.

Working Together
Kari Majors, VP, Executive Director of CyncHealth Nebraska and CyncHealth Iowa, said twenty staff members from NE DHHS and CyncHealth spent the time focused on “developing a cohesive, integrated strategy that leverages our public-private partnership, improves mutual operations, stakeholder engagement, and enhances our impact on community outcomes.” Ashley Newmyer, DHHS Data Officer, added, “The ground we covered and the issues we worked through were remarkable.”

During the session, the partnering organizations came up with plans that include:

• A practical vision: What we want to achieve together.
• Strategic direction: The path we will take to get there.
• 1-2 year work plan: Short-term goals and tasks.
• 90-day action plans: Immediate steps to start making progress.

Members of CyncHealth and NE DHHS pose for a quick picture during the two-day strategy session.

Building on Past Work
To continue building on over a decade of public-private partnership success, CyncHealth Nebraska and NE DHHS have committed to evaluating various aspects of the partnership structure, communications, funding, and stakeholder involvement to ensure continuous innovative approaches are incorporated that best serve the State of Nebraska, users of the Health Data Utility, and branding that represents the joint partnership. This meeting built on a previous session held in April, which Majors said: “focused on an environmental scan of the partnership and a one-year action plan for delivering on objectives and activities required to sustain the statewide health information exchange infrastructure, and support priority use cases in partnership with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for FFY26 and FFY27.” The partners meet in small workgroups regularly and focus on legal, financial, clinical, technical, and business requirement aspects of the action plan. They will continue through the delivery of the plan to CMS in the spring of 2025. Ashley Newmyer, DHHS Data Officer, stated, “Our goal is to have an effective partnership that supports a tool to improve community health outcomes.”

About CyncHealth
CyncHealth connects over 5 million lives and 1,135 facilities across Nebraska and Iowa. This network includes hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities, and other healthcare providers. By sharing data like patient histories, lab results, and immunizations, CyncHealth helps doctors and nurses provide better care.

About Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

DHHS is a state agency of Nebraska. The agency provides health and human services for families and individuals. DHHS is Nebraska’s largest agency and is responsible for nearly one-third of the state’s government. DHHS consists of five divisions, seven facilities, and eight operational areas. The five divisions are Behavioral Health, Children and Family Services, Developmental Disabilities, Medicaid and Long-Term Care, and Public Health.