Alaska Health Information Exchange Summit
Our annual Alaska HIE Summit brings together healthcare stakeholders from across the state to collaborate, hear from local and national leaders, share successes, and explore new ways to improve health information exchange and care coordination.
Join Us!
Hosted by healthEconnect Alaska and the Alaska Department of Health, this year’s event brings together healthcare leaders and innovators to explore how health data is transforming care across the state.
Be part of the conversation—registration is now open.
Date: August 28, 2025
Online attendance available
Cost: Free
Lunch: Provided for in-person attendees
Time: 9:00 am - 3:30 pm, doors open at 8:30
Session Topics & Speakers
What Health Information Exchange Means for Alaskans
9:00 – 9:45
The summit opens with an overview from healthEconnect Alaska’s Executive Director, introducing our mission, values, and role in supporting health care across the state. This session will follow four stories of Alaskans as they interact with different parts of the health care system. Through these examples, we’ll explore how health information exchange shows up in practice, where it supports care, where gaps remain, and what it means for individuals, providers, and communities across Alaska.
Kendra Sticka
Executive Director
healthEconnect Alaska
HIE in Action: Everyday Journeys Through Alaska’s Health System
10:00 – 10:45
The proliferation of data exchange over local and national networks has accelerated in recent years. At the same time exponential advancements in large language model (LLM) artificial intelligence tools have excited the healthcare industry with promises of faster, safer, and more effective clinical decision-making. At this intersection of increased data exchange and Ai lie numerous policy, governance, and privacy questions that must be addressed.
In the not-so-distant future, treatment-based queries of local and national networks could grab data, push it through LLMs, and generate instantaneous insights that could help automate clinical decision support, identify public health issues, and bring greater insights right to the physician’s fingertips. Alaskans must feel comfortable that these rapidly growing healthcare interoperability and technological advancements are used transparently, ethically, and are governed through a trusted framework that understands the history of the state and its healthcare system.
Ryan Bramble
Chief Operating Officer
CRISP Shared Services
Jay Nakashima
President
eHealth Exchange
Anne Zink
Senior Fellow
Yale
Public Health Applications of HIE
11:00 – 11:45
Hear from Alaska public health leaders about their participation in healthEconnect and ways that the HIE is contributing to infectious disease and opioid prevention as well as efforts to conduct death investigations and provide timely communication to providers.
Eliza Ramsey
Data Specialist
Alaska Department of Health
Jessica Downes
Director of Population Health
Envoy Integrated Health
Ann’e Garner
Operations Administrator
State Medical Examiner Office
Liz Ohlsen
Staff Physician
Alaska Department of Health
Lisa Sherrell
PDMP Manager
Alaska Division of Corporations, Business, and Professional Licensing
Lunch & Networking
11:45 – 12:45
State of Alaska, Department of Health: Health Priorities & the Power of Connection
12:45 – 1:15
In this session, leaders from the Alaska Department of Health will share current priorities and how the department is thinking about the role of data, technology, and collaboration in meeting the state’s health goals. Building on last year’s conversation, we’ll hear updates on strategic initiatives and how information exchange continues to support alignment across public health, policy, and care delivery in Alaska.
Heidi Hedberg
Commissioner
Alaska Department of Health
Jason Ball
Chief Health Data Officer
Alaska Department of Health
Value-Based Care: Past Lessons, Present Realities, and Future Directions
1:15 – 2:00
The movement toward value-based care and accountable care has reshaped the healthcare landscape over the past decade, offering both promise and persistent challenges. This session will trace the history of value-based care, examining key milestones and obstacles faced by providers and policymakers in advancing accountable care. We will then look ahead, discussing what’s on the horizon under the current federal administration and Congress, and what these developments mean for the future of payment and delivery reform.
Aisha Pittman
Senior Vice President of Government Affairs
National Association of ACOs
Law or Lore: Patient Consent, Data Governance, and Health Information Exchange
2:15 – 3:00
Every time a patient sees a health care provider, we are asked to sign many, many pages of paperwork. Part of this stack of paperwork includes something that tells us our “privacy rights.” This session will explore exactly what those rights are and how they impact how and when providers share information. We will specifically focus on the difference between data sharing that is allowed with or without a patient signing a consent form and the types of data and sharing that require specific, affirmative consent form. We will highlight how these laws impact data sharing within Alaska’s health information exchange and the additional layers of governance in the exchange that further protect data sharers, receivers, and patients. After this session, it is our hope that those attending will understand the difference between the Law and Lore of patient consent and data exchange.
Nichole Sweeney
General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer
CRISP Shared Services, Inc.
Closing Remarks: The Human Element Behind Progress
3:00 – 3:30
From systems integration to policy alignment, healthcare transformation is full of complexity, especially when technology is involved. Yet amidst the tools, processes, and data, it’s easy to lose sight of the end goal: healthier people and stronger communities. In this closing session, Brian Walch will reflect on key themes from the day and offer a grounded reminder that people must remain central to any lasting solution.
Brian Walch
Owner
Shiftfocus Coaching and Consulting