In this episode of the Oklahoma RISE 25 and 25 RHTP podcast. Today we take a deep dive into the Building Health Data Utility pillar of the Oklahoma Rural Health Transformation Program — specifically the $29,210,000 Health Information Exchange (HIE) interoperability initiative led by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority through its OKShine office. Covering all 77 counties and deployed across FY2026–FY2030, the initiative is presented as the critical, foundational “data plumbing” required to unlock the rest of the states $1.1 billion rural health investment.

Hosts discuss the core problem — fragmented patient data and severe rural blind spots — and unpack sobering baseline metrics: 97% of rural health clinics (RHCs) are not connected to the HIE, 46% of rural hospitals lack integration, 40% of substance abuse treatment centers are unconnected, and a statewide 20% duplicate diagnostic testing rate. The episode explains how these gaps create patient-safety risks, wasted spending, and a lack of timely population-level visibility for state decision-makers.

The conversation outlines the initiatives two central marching orders: extend HIE connectivity to unconnected rural facilities, and dramatically expand data ingestion to include imaging, pharmacy, public health, and real-time mortality feeds. It details the four funded components — facility connection and onboarding subsidies, provider adoption and education (including a peer-to-peer learning portal), system upgrades and data integration (notably $2.5M for AI-driven imaging over-reads and a DICOM server), and a consumer-facing consent application to resolve Oklahomas opt-in policy for behavioral health data — and the specific facility targets: ~40 rural hospitals, 139 RHCs, 304 long-term care facilities, and 4 substance-abuse treatment centers.

Listeners are walked through procurement and cost models (tiered connection costs with most expenses contractual), the required tie-ins with parallel investments (EHR expansion at $44.88M and data & analytics expansion at $21.7M), and the sustainability gamble: a five-year grant runway followed by a provider-assumed maintenance payment model beginning Q4 FY2031. Key milestones and timeline are called out — launch of connection subsidies in Q3 FY2026, a regional ingestion pilot by Q2 FY2027, peer portal by Q4 FY2027, full statewide availability by Q1 FY2029, and the transition to provider payments in FY2031.

The episode highlights measurable targets and performance metrics — 50% RHC HIE penetration by years 4–5, at least a 15% relative reduction in duplicate testing, and 100% county-level access to imaging/public health/mortality feeds by year five — and flags the highest risks: failure to demonstrate ROI to providers before the billing transition, procurement delays for critical infrastructure (the DICOM server), challenges in deploying a trusted behavioral-health consent app, and the need for flawless coordination with the EHR expansion. It closes by connecting these technical and policy elements to the everyday impact for rural Oklahomans: fewer duplicate tests, faster transitions of care, stronger data for value-based payment and population health, and reduced administrative burden for rural clinicians.

Listeners are invited to join the Oklahoma Rise 25 in 25 RHTP Task Force at Rise25in25.org or email info@rise25in25.org for more information. The Oklahoma Rise 25 and 25 RHTP Forum is produced and directed by Dr. Keley John Booth, MD.