SB 660: Health data sharing underpins California’s health goals

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OPINION – California has ambitious goals to make health care more effective, efficient, and affordable. But there’s a hard truth: none of these goals are achievable without a clear, coordinated path for sharing necessary patient information across health and social care systems. Today’s fragmented health care system severely limits the ability to connect qualified providers and patients to vital information for health and well-being. For our most vulnerable populations, provider access to relevant data can be the difference between reaching life-saving care, housing, food, and other essential services or going without.

Despite this clear need, meaningful participation in the CalHHS Data Exchange Framework (DxF), which mandates safe and secure data sharing, remains limited. Although more than 4,400 health care entities, county agencies, and social service organizations have signed a common agreement, many more are eligible to participate.

Senate Bill 660 (SB 660), introduced by Senate Health Committee Chair Caroline Menjivar (SD-20), is poised to help. The bill is designed to advance California’s health care goals by creating additional clarity for DxF participants and supporting DxF’s management under the proven leadership of the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI). It also proposes inclusion of emergency services to participate in data sharing, which is vital for optimizing patient health in both personal emergencies and widespread crises, such as California’s seasonal wildfires. SB 660 incorporates necessary community-informed provisions built based on extensive feedback received from DxF participants to secure trusted data connections among partners.

When providers and other data sharing participants trust the data they share and use, it unlocks the ability to improve patient outcomes more efficiently. For instance, if one care provider has already performed bloodwork or an MRI and this information is shareable between providers, care teams can begin treatment more quickly while also helping the patient avoid unnecessary repeat tests. Other states have already demonstrated the power of exchanging data: In Maryland, a single value-based care program saved $20 million in its first year thanks to a statewide data sharing infrastructure that enabled preventive outreach and care coordination. Another study in the southeast showed health information exchange was also associated with cost savings of nearly $2,000 per patient, largely due to a reduction in unnecessary testing and hospital admissions.

This efficiency at scale reduces health care costs, a primary goal in California. Since the implementation of the DxF, high-priority use cases across the state are demonstrating models for scalable cost savings. The California Health Care Foundation found that by exchanging health information, California-based Aledade, the largest network of independent primary care organizations in the country, realized 21–29% reductions in emergency department readmissions, with follow-ups helping prevent hospitalization. These changes translated into an estimated $4.2 million in annual savings through improved care transitions and reduced utilization.

SB 660 is timely and necessary, delivering much-needed accountability, leadership, and clear direction critical to advancing widespread engagement. Most importantly, it supports patients and providers in delivering better care, improving health outcomes, enhancing efficiency, and reducing costs. I urge legislators to pass SB 660 to help advance a healthier future for all Californians.

Timi Leslie is the executive director of Connecting for Better Health.