FAQs
LANES FAQs
LANES is an independent, non-profit organization serving as a California-designated Qualified Health Information organization (QHIO) for all health and social service providers that provide care in the greater Los Angeles area and southern California. LANES is a public-private collaboration of healthcare organizations that connects healthcare providers and payors to exchange patient information digitally in real-time. We serve as a central hub facilitating access to aggregated patient charts, from multiple EHRs, with all providers at the point of care. We provide authorized clinicians and staff with quick, accurate, actionable, and secure access to patient longitudinal health records. Our objective is to streamline care delivery. Learn more about our services.
Sharing patient data is good for your patients and their health. It also makes the visits more efficient. LANES provides community level patient information, linking data from healthcare providers including physical and behavioral health records, medications, labs, and post-acute care. Access to LANES’ rich set of patient information enables providers to make informed and better clinical decisions and diagnoses. The benefits of sharing health information with LANES include:
- Immediate access to important health information from other LANES participating organizations that you would otherwise need to obtain by fax or mail
- Improved communication with patients, resulting in enhanced coordination of care
- Reduced need for duplication of tests and treatments
- Improved patient safety and reduced likelihood of dangerous medication interactions
- Clinical support services from the LANES clinical support team, providing training and coaching to clinicians and staff on LANES toolsets to enhance patient experiences, clinical outcomes, and population health management.
For the most up-to-date list of all LANES participants, please click here.
Cost is usually comprised of a one-time implementation fee and an annual subscription fee. The tiered pricing is based on several factors, such as your existing technology, the size of your organization and the solutions you need. Please contact us at to get a quote.
Grant funding is available to cover the cost of subscriptions for hospitals, clinics and private practices. In some cases, LANES is able to cover the cost of an EHR vendor to build the interface to LANES. Funding is limited, and available on a first-come first-served basis. For more information, please contact .
For more information, please email or visit lanesla.org and click on Contact Us.
Patient Information FAQs
Providers get access to LANES patients’ data only when they have a relationship with the patient for the purpose of Treatment, Payment and Operation. LANES only exchanges health information with healthcare organizations that have been vetted and also adhere to HIPAA laws. In addition, only providers who have signed the LANES Data Exchange Participation Agreement (DEPA) or are participating in eHealth Exchange or CareQuality will have access to some of the health information data on LANES. LANES does not sell or provide health information to third parties nor commercial organizations.
In alignment with data sharing standards and requirements by the CalHHS Data Sharing Agreement (DSA), LANES shares and receives patient health and social services data with other QHIOs and national networks such as eHealth Exchange and CareQuality. This effort will amplify the power of data to improve care coordination and patient health outcomes.
LANES collects and stores behavioral and sensitive data in its clinical data repository and uses a data segmentation approach and firewalls to protect patient sensitive data. Since behavioral health information is necessary to provide the best possible care to patients, it will only be available for healthcare providers to use when a) patient consent is obtained and b) providers “break the glass” to gain access to the data that is sensitive in nature. Patient sensitive data is only available to LANES participating providers and not shared with QHIOs or National Networks.
The most common types of health information shared are:
- Demographics
- Problem List/Conditions
- Medications Order and Prescription Filled
- Allergies
- Lab Orders/Results
- Immunizations
- Procedures
- Vital Signs
- Radiology/Imaging Reports
- History & Physical
- Provider Reports and Care Plans
- Visit Encounters
- Continuity of Care Documents
- Discharge Summaries
- Transitions of Care Documents
- Hospital Admissions, Discharge and Transfer (ADT) Reports
Participants may also choose to provide additional information they consider important for other healthcare providers to know when treating their patients.
LANES as well as its participating organizations and partners must abide by State and Federal privacy laws, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, the Privacy Act of 1974, and the security provisions for health information in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Only participating health care providers who are authorized by HIPPA laws to view patient health records will have privileges to access LANES HIE. Routine audits are also performed to ensure compliance to applicable laws and user agreements.
LANES Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is designated to oversee comprehensive information security and privacy program, including a robust risk management program. LANES uses state-of-the-art information technology to keep health information safe and secure. LANES system is hosted in a Certified SOC II Type II, HITRUST CSF, data centers with redundant locations in Southern California and Colorado. LANES uses secure networks and environments with strong SHA 256 encryption for data in transit and rest; and administers security controls administered on network and environments that are tested and validated, such as Data Loss Prevention, Multi-factor Authentication protocols, Annual penetration testing.
Yes. LANES complies with all federal and state regulations regarding the exchange of protected health information (PHI), behavioral health data and substance abuse data (also known as “42 CFR Part 2 data.) These regulations place security and privacy requirements on LANES that govern and safeguard how and why LANES may receive and exchange these sorts of data. LANES only receives these types of data with patient consent in place with the provider organization. All LANES participants must be Qualified Service Organizations to exchange behavioral health and substance abuse data. Participants must have an established relationship with patients to query these records with this data type, and utilize this information for continuity of care.
As a public benefit organization, LANES is focused on developing data services and solutions to solve local and regional problems for providers. In addition, LANES is the only QHIO maintaining a rich set of clinical, behavioral, and SDoH data from a broad range of care providers in Los Angeles.
An important differentiation is LANES Governance and the Board of Directors, which is made up of the Los Angeles community healthcare organizations. The Board defines and establishes LANES’ strategic plans and road map and data usage policies based on the needs of the providers and patients in Los Angeles. In addition, LANES has four Advisory Committees, with members consisting of existing participants. Current committees include Executive Management Group, Finance, Data Governance, and Privacy & Security. In summary, Los Angeles healthcare stakeholders are involved in the operation and direction of LANES.
As a local HIE/QHIO, LANES is focused on connecting and sharing data with all types of care delivery providers in Los Angeles County including primary care providers, specialists, hospitals, health plans, SNFs, long term care and labs.
LANES has exclusive access to the County Department of Health Services (DHS) and Department of Mental Health (DMH). LANES provides behavioral health information to complement a patient’s physical medical record.
In addition, the LANES clinical support team is responsible for training and coaching your staff and clinicians on how to leverage LANES data and toolsets for improved patient experience, clinical outcomes, and population health management. The clinical support services are ongoing and customized according to your goals and priorities. We work with your CMO, other executives, case managers, care coordinators, and clinical support staff to improve the quality of care initiatives.
The National Networks, such as eHealth Exchange and CareQuality, only offer one type of service, which is a CCDA document. LANES offers a wide range of services, including Admit, Discharge, Transfer from any care setting, event notifications for transition of care planning and care coordination, risk stratification, risk adjustments, population health, CCDA, HEDIS and Clinical Quality reports. In addition, LANES has developed toolsets to assist with managing the ECM populations. In summary, LANES central data repository platform contains a rich set of patient clinical information that no other HIEs or HIOs can offer. LANES patient matching technology is superior to the National Networks. In addition, LANES clinical data is of higher quality providing accurate patient information and reports. Plus, LANES has a team dedicated to assisting healthcare organizations improving clinical quality using the data compiled from LANES data repository.
LANES delivers a wide array of services that will result in a ROI for every participant. LANES supports this statement by providing two business use cases where we track and measure results and prove ROI during the initial two-year agreement term.
LANES is an opt-out HIE/QHIO, meaning by default, patients’ data is shared. Patient data is available for access by authenticated LANES participants unless the patient elects to opt-out of sharing.
Once patients are notified by your office that you are participating in LANES health information exchange, nothing is required by patients who wish to participate because they are by default opted-in.
LANES is an opt-out organization, meaning that patient consent is sent electronically to LANES along with other data from EHR systems connected to LANES. A patient may choose not to share data with LANES by signing a specific opt-out form with their providers to restrict the exchange of their personal health records with LANES.
Patients should understand that if they opt-out of the health information exchange they will limit providers’ ability to provide the best possible care. By opting out of the health information exchange, they also accept the risks associated with that decision. Their health information will continue to be shared among providers and health plans through other means, such as mail, fax, or secure e-mail. In other words, opting out of the health information exchange will not prevent providers from seeing their complete medical records.
LANES may exchange protected health information (PHI) in compliance with HIPAA regulations for payment, treatment and operations permissible uses. All participant organizations sign a Data Exchange Participation Agreement (DEPA) Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with LANES, which mandates compliance with HIPAA. LANES may exchange behavioral health and substance abuse data with any participant organizations in the network that have executed a Qualified Service Organization Agreement, which permits the exchange of behavioral health and substance abuse data for continuity of care.
Data Exchange Framework FAQs
According to the California Center for Data Insights and Information (CDII), The Data Exchange Framework, commonly referred to as the DxF, includes a single data sharing agreement and common set of policies and procedures that will govern and require the exchange of health information among healthcare entities and government entities in California. For more information, visit the CDII website.
The DSA, or the Data Sharing Agreement, is a mandated agreement between hospitals, physician organizations and medical groups, skilled nursing facilities, health plans and disability insurers, clinical laboratories, and acute psychiatric hospitals to share patient information safely, according to the California Center for Data Insights and Information (CDII). For more information, visit the CDII website.
Industry Terms FAQs
A Qualified Health Information Organization (QHIO) is defined by California Health and Human Services (CalHHS) as an organization that facilitates the secure exchange of health and social services information, assisting Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) Signatories to adhere to the DxF requirements. QHIOs are designated by CalHHS after a vetting process to ensure they have the highest security and technology infrastructure to support DSA signatories. There are nine QHIOs in California. Although all nine QHIO can facilitate data exchange according to the DxF policy and procedure, LANES offers additional data services to support local and regional use cases empowering clinicians to provide the best possible care.
