Public infrastructure deserves a neutral steward
Statewide interoperability is, at its core, public infrastructure — and like any infrastructure it benefits from a neutral convener that answers to the standards rather than to any single vendor. For agencies and policymakers, that posture is the point.
Arizona
A table no single platform owns
Health data policy succeeds or fails on trust. When the body convening providers, payers and vendors has a financial stake in one platform winning, every recommendation is suspect. A vendor-neutral convener can hold the table because it takes no vendor money and starts every position from a published standard — HL7, FHIR, GS1, UDI, EPCS, and the federal rules around them.
This is the legacy AzHeC carries forward from Arizona Health-e Connection: the Health IT Roadmap, the EHR Incentive Programs era, and a statewide HIE built to serve the whole ecosystem rather than any one participant.
Where the council supports policy work
Four areas where a neutral convener is useful to agencies and policymakers.
Public-health reporting
Electronic lab reporting and standardised data flows feed surveillance and reporting systems, turning routine clinical exchange into a public-health asset.
The Health IT Roadmap
A vendor-neutral view of where standards and exchange are heading helps agencies plan investment without being captured by a single product's roadmap.
Privacy, consent and policy
Clear, plain-language analysis of consent models, 42 CFR Part 2 and HIPAA helps policymakers weigh trade-offs between data sharing and protection.
A durable convening function
Standards bodies, providers, payers and vendors stay aligned when a neutral party keeps the conversation grounded in the published rules.
Frequently asked questions
01What does vendor-neutral actually mean here?
It means AzHeC takes no vendor sponsorship that buys influence over its positions, recommends no products, and bases every analysis on published standards and public rules rather than any commercial roadmap.
02Does the council set policy or regulate?
No. AzHeC is a convener and educator, not a regulator. It translates standards and policy into plain language and brings stakeholders together; statutory authority rests with the relevant agencies.
03How does interoperability serve public health?
When clinical data already moves through standardised channels, public-health functions such as reportable-condition surveillance and lab reporting can ride the same infrastructure rather than requiring separate, duplicative feeds.
Engage the neutral table
Agencies and policymakers are welcome to bring questions on standards, consent, and statewide exchange to the council.