< + > 5 Hot Health Care Topics You Won’t Want to Miss at the Civitas 2025 Annual Conference

The following is a guest article by Jolie Ritzo, Interim CEO at Civitas Networks for Health

The Civitas 2025 Annual Conference is just around the corner, and with it comes the opportunity to connect with peers across the country who are leading the charge in transforming health care through data, innovation, and collaboration. This year’s agenda reflects the most urgent and exciting topics in the industry today, from national interoperability strategies to local data exchange innovations that improve care in real time.

Whether you work at a health information exchange (HIE), a public health department, a health system, a governmental agency, a community-based organization (CBO), a quality improvement organization (QIO), a health collaborative, or somewhere else related, you’ll leave the conference with fresh ideas, new tools, key connections, and actionable insights to support your mission.

Here are five timely topics that will be explored in depth at this year’s event, with sessions you won’t want to miss:

1. Data Integration for Whole-Person Care

Whole-person care is no longer just a buzzword. It’s a critical priority for improving health outcomes, particularly for populations with complex needs. As organizations move from siloed data systems to integrated care models, HIEs, community information exchanges (CIEs), CBOs, and their partners are playing a central role.

If this topic is important to you, don’t miss these sessions:

• “Amplifying Behavioral Health Care Through Partnerships Between a QIO and a State HIE”: This session will spotlight how strategic data partnerships can enhance behavioral health coordination, closing gaps for patients who to often fall through the cracks.
• “Better Together: CIEs and HIEs Uniting for Whole-Person Care”: CIEs and HIEs play distinct yet complementary roles in care coordination. This lightning talk will explore how the TogetherNow CIE is collaborating with their regional HIE to create a payor-agnostic data exchange model.

2. The Evolution of Health Data Utilities and Their Role in National Interoperability

The concept of a Health Data Utility (HDU) has gained traction as a scalable model for critical public-private health data infrastructure. At this year’s conference, speakers will explore the evolving role of HDUs in shaping the national interoperability ecosystem and how states are implementing this model in diverse ways.

Look for discussions on:

• The policy and funding environment shaping HDUs
• State-level strategies for integrating claims, clinical, and social data
• How HDUs can plug into TEFCA and other national frameworks

3. Advancing Quality and Value Through Real-Time Data Exchange

As the national focus shifts toward interoperability, quality measurement, and value-based care, HIEs and QIOs are emerging as essential partners in driving smarter, more coordinated health systems. At this year’s conference there will be sessions that highlight how real-time data exchange is being used to close quality gaps and strengthen care coordination – for example:

• “Amplifying Behavioral Health Care Through Partnerships Between a QIO and a State HIE”: Explore how a QIO and HIE are partnering to improve behavioral health care through aligned missions and shared member networks. Attendees will participate in an interactive exercise to help identify strategies that will advance behavioral health in communities.
• “Raising Awareness & Improving Outcomes for Chronic Kidney Disease Utilizing HIEs”: Learn how Utah is using data to estimate undiagnosed chronic kidney disease prevalence and drive timely primary care follow-up, addressing a major quality gap linked to the West’s highest kidney disease mortality rate.

4. Privacy, Security, and Consent in a Shifting Digital Landscape

As health data becomes more accessible and interoperable, ensuring that privacy and trust keep pace is essential. This year’s conference includes multiple sessions exploring how organizations can navigate consent, cybersecurity, and community trust in a rapidly evolving digital environment.

If you’re focused on privacy and security, relevant key sessions include:

• “Consent Management Workshop: A hands-on, practical session exploring modern consent frameworks. This workshop will empower attendees with actionable steps to improve consent workflows across systems.
• “Sacred Data: Protecting Tribal Knowledge in the Era of Digital Health”: A powerful panel on respecting Indigenous data sovereignty while ensuring Native communities benefit from health IT innovation.

5. The Role of Community Information Exchange in Improving Health Care Delivery

CIEs are reshaping what’s possible in care coordination by connecting health care, social services, and community partners to deliver truly whole-person support. As national leaders and originators of the CIE model, 211 San Diego and the Community Information Exchange are at the forefront of this work—and Civitas is proud to be partnering with them to host this year’s conference. With their leadership, you can count on robust, forward-thinking conversations about how CIEs are driving equity, data integration, and better outcomes across the country.

If you want to learn more about CIE, be sure to attend:

• “CIE Perspectives: Centering Community Voice: This session will focus on inclusive governance, co-design, and how CIEs can elevate the lived experience of those they serve, ensuring that equity remains at the heart of interoperability efforts.
• “CIE Data Integrations with CBOs: Examples from 10 Years on the Front Lines”: We will explore the challenges and solutions used for several data integration efforts and how the iterative trial and error process informed the development of the new “CIE Technology Toolkit” and “Technology Checklist.”

Why You Should Attend

The Civitas 2025 Annual Conference offers a unique opportunity for technical experts, community leaders, data scientists, policymakers, patient advocates, and more to come together to shape the future of health care. With a mix of policy insights, practical workshops, and visionary storytelling, the sessions highlighted here are just a preview of the rich agenda waiting for you.

If you want to join us prior to the conference to get your feet wet and understand more about the types of presentations you can look forward to in Anaheim, register for our free, open-to-the-public virtual preconference sessions.

We can’t wait to see you in California this fall.

Register today to save your spot.

About Jolie Ritzo

Jolie Ritzo is the Interim CEO at Civitas Networks for Health. With over 15 years of experience, Jolie has led communications and marketing, government relations and advocacy, event strategy, and strategic planning for the organization. Jolie previously served as the VP of Strategy and Network Engagement for Civitas, Senior Director of Network Engagement for Civitas, and was the Director of Partnerships and Programs at the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI). Jolie also serves as President of the Crossroads Board of Directors, a nonprofit organization serving patients and families in Maine with addiction and behavioral health treatment.