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Santa Cruz Health Information Organization (SCHIO) Chooses Verato UMPI™ to Expand Services and Improve Patient Data

The partnership enables SCHIO’s transition to a health data utility while continuing to build and sustain trust with the Santa Cruz community

MCLEAN, Va. (August 18, 2022) – Verato, the identity experts for healthcare, today announces its partnership with Santa Cruz Health Information Organization (SCHIO), which will enable the health information exchange (HIE) to create a stronger foundation of patient data using the Verato Universal Master Person Index (UMPI™). As SCHIO migrates to a health data utility and further ingrains itself in the Santa Cruz community through the community information exchange (CIE), the partnership will allow SCHIO to provide more accurate, reliable data to better serve Santa Cruz residents as the trusted, single source for patient identity management.

Established in 1996, SCHIO is one of the oldest and most advanced health information exchanges in the country, connecting more than 100 healthcare organizations in the area, including primary care and specialist groups, hospitals, clinics, mental health and substance use providers, and more. As the organization continued to expand its services to more effectively serve the Santa Cruz community, they sought a master patient index solution that would not only help provide organizations and patients with more accurate data, but also link with social determinants of health (SDOH) information and improve interoperability and data sharing across the healthcare ecosystem.

“Our mission has always been centered around serving our community, and our organization has really bought into expanding into a health data utility. You can’t do that without a single source for identity management within the community,” said Dan Chavez, executive director of SCHIO. “Verato will assist us in making that happen. I’ve been familiar with Verato for a long time, and due to their work with other major health organizations in California, we knew they were the best choice for our team as we work to streamline data sharing and improve interoperability. We’re thrilled to employ Verato to make this happen at SCHIO.”

Along with creating a master patient index for the patients of Santa Cruz, Verato’s technology solutions will enable SCHIO to integrate crucial SDOH data into the patient record. This information includes data around housing and homelessness, mental health and substance abuse disorder, food insecurity, and transportation. This more robust patient record will not only improve care at organizations across the Santa Cruz area, but also generate more accurate data that can be easily shared with patients and healthcare organizations, alike, to further enhance interoperability.

“SCHIO is a special organization, and they’ve fostered an incredible relationship of trust within their community. They understand that this relationship of trust is founded on accuracy and consistency, especially when it comes to patient data,” said Clay Ritchey, CEO of Verato. “We’re excited to expand our footprint in California even further to help SCHIO and its community continue to drive toward better healthcare and true interoperability. Creating a more robust and accurate patient record truly is an integral part of their expansion and a major step towards the future of connected care that we’re happy to be part of.”

Verato currently works to improve the patient data and records for nearly 20 HIE customers, including SCHIO. Learn more about Verato’s work with HIEs at the upcoming CIVITAS 2022 Annual Conference (August 21-24, 2022), by stopping by Verato’s booth (#27) or visiting verato.com.

About Verato

Verato, the identity experts for healthcare, enables smarter growth, improved care quality and efficiency, and better population health by solving the problem that drives everything else—knowing who is who. Over 70 of the most respected brands in healthcare rely on Verato for a complete and trusted 360-degree view of the people they serve to accelerate the success of their digital health initiatives and fully understand consumers’ preferences, risks, and needs from the beginning and throughout their care journey. Only the Verato HITRUST-certified, next-generation cloud identity platform enables interoperability across the complex digital health ecosystem with unprecedented accuracy, ease, and time-to-value. With an enterprise-wide single source of truth for identity, Verato ensures that you get identity right from the start. For more information, visit Verato.com.