By Ali Zadeh, MD, Chief Medical Officer of LANES
For years, the conversation around interoperability centered on one goal: getting healthcare and social services organizations to exchange more data. The LANES Qualified Health Information Organization (QHIO) in California is now helping organizations take the next step by applying the leading-edge technologies and capabilities that turn access to data into clinical intelligence.
For the 2026 Mercy Mental Health Summit, which brings together clinicians, policymakers, and innovators to improve patient outcomes, LANES’ Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ali Zadeh joined healthcare leaders and LANES participants from across California to discuss the steps they are taking to change the way they care for patients today and tomorrow. Summit host Mercy Health is a nonprofit organization committed to delivering essential healthcare services, education, & resources to & in underserved communities in Los Angeles & Orange Counties
Panelists included:
- Jennie Crooms, HIM Director – Adjunct Faculty, Gateways Hospital and Mental Health Center – East Los Angeles College
- Nolan Ross, Director of Development, LA Center for Alcohol and Drugs Abuse
- Dr. Christian Espinoza, Director of Clinical Operations, Tarzana Treatment Centers
- Donna Dominion, Director of Case Management, LA Care Health Plan
Here are the most important lessons learned and trends to watch.
Better data creates better integrated care
Each panelist described how access to more complete patient information has strengthened care coordination across the healthcare system, which has traditionally operated in silos.
For hospitals, longitudinal patient records provide critical context beyond a single encounter, including behavioral health history, substance use treatment, and other clinical information that may influence care decisions.
For behavioral health providers and treatment centers, shared data improves continuity as patients move between emergency departments, inpatient facilities, outpatient treatment, and community services, including the pharmacy data needed to deliver the best care.
For health plans, timely information supports proactive case management by allowing care teams to identify members who need outreach after an emergency department visit or hospitalization and coordinate appropriate follow-up care.
All organizations agreed that continuing to diversify the entities that participate and the types of data being shared will lead to stronger patient benefits and better health outcomes.
Timely information supports timely intervention
One of the strongest themes throughout the discussion was the importance of receiving information when it matters most. For example, rather than discovering a hospitalization weeks later, organizations in a connected care system through LANES can receive timely notifications that allow care managers to begin outreach immediately, reconcile medications, schedule follow-up appointments, and coordinate services.
These modernized workflows are especially valuable for vulnerable and medically complex patients receiving behavioral health or substance use treatment, where transitions between organizations are frequent and missed follow-up can quickly lead to avoidable emergency department visits or readmissions.
The next frontier is actually a different type of AI: actionable intelligence
According to the panelists, the future will be defined by a critical shift: one that moves from focused on access to more data and instead, investing in ways to make the data easier to use and apply to patients in clinical and community settings of all kinds. In practice, this looks like fewer document requests, and more tools like those that can identify rising risk populations before crises occur.
Other applications that emerged included activities like:
- Differentiate routine clinical updates from events requiring immediate intervention.
- Surface the patients who need outreach sooner.
- Summarize lengthy longitudinal records into concise clinical overviews that support faster decision-making.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is still a part of this vision, and its most valuable role would be to accelerate and amplify the tools and workflows that help clinicians work more efficiently by organizing information, summarizing complex patient histories, and highlighting meaningful changes that might otherwise be buried within hundreds of pages of records.
One common sentiment emerged: clinicians should spend less time searching for information and more time caring for patients.
Looking ahead
The panel concluded by asking participants to complete a single sentence: “Full data exchange capability for clinical intelligence requires…”
While each answer differed, a single sentiment remained the same: Continuous improvement in healthcare will rely on transforming data into clinical intelligence for providers, for organizations, and most importantly, for patients.