Partial federal government shutdown
HCA does not anticipate any immediate impacts to our services or disruption to provider payments at this time. We will continue to monitor the situation and share updates if anything changes.
HCA does not anticipate any immediate impacts to our services or disruption to provider payments at this time. We will continue to monitor the situation and share updates if anything changes.
The Health Care Authority (HCA) is participating in a statewide electronic health record (EHR) implementation to enhance health care services for providers and patients. Learn about the background of the Connect Program and next steps.
Washington’s Apple Health (Medicaid) population of nearly 2 million members frequently use services provided by HCA, the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), and the Department of Corrections (DOC). HCA will use the Epic platform with shared governance and resources to support this population. This will improve health care coordination between providers and allow the state to provide high-quality care more effectively for Apple Health clients being served by community providers.
The Connect Program will allow improvements in areas such as:
Contracted providers will have access to the Epic EHR platform via HCA’s Connect Program. This model allows smaller health care organizations to access the full capabilities of the Epic EHR system.
This model enables several benefits, including:
Interoperability functions will allow data to be shared between providers using similar and dissimilar systems. The extent of data sharing capabilities will vary from system to system.
A wraparound service vendor will be selected to engage, onboard, and support HCA contracted providers who use the system.
HCA intends to implement with identified providers in cohorts. The initial cohort will be focused on Indian health care providers, behavioral health and substance use disorder (SUD) providers, long-term care, and crisis responders. Additional cohorts will include rural hospitals, jails, and more. Providers will be prioritized based on Apple Health clients supported.
The Connect Program expects to kick off the implementation phase in Q1 2026. HCA providers would go live with the system Q1 2027. Next steps include:
Email: HCA Connect Program