Health Industry Collaboration Effort

Health Industry Collaboration Effort, Inc. (HICE) is a volunteer, multi-disciplinary team of providers, health plans, associations, state and federal agencies and accrediting bodies working collaboratively to improve health care regulatory compliance through education of the public.

Click here to learn more about our organizational structure update and rebranding.

HICE mobilizes volunteers from health care industry stakeholders to develop educational and "best practice" materials designed to streamline, simplify, and standardize regulatory policies and procedures that govern the provision of health care services that particularly require the collaboration between health plans and their provider partners. HICE volunteers work cooperatively to develop policies, procedures, and tools designed to find a consistent way to implement regulations with the minimal amount of impact and the maximum amount of return for both the health plan and the provider community that enable them to more readily and easily comply with regulation. Volunteers from state and federal government agencies also participate in HICE. Through their participation, they help to educate through clarification of issues which arise from time to time as a result of the promulgation of new regulatory schemes.

HICE was originally formed in 1998 as a voluntary work group (in the form of a California nonprofit mutual benefit corporation) to educate the public regarding common concerns around implementation of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. The founders of HICE recognized that collaborative and consistent development of educational materials by health plans and the provider community would be a sound approach to promoting compliance with this far-reaching new regulatory scheme.

In 2001, HICE received a grant to fund development of its own web site, so as to facilitate the broadest possible dissemination of its educational materials. In 2003, the board of directors of HICE determined to restructure HICE as California nonprofit public benefit corporation organized and operated exclusively for educational and charitable purposes as described in Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The corporation is filed in California as a not-for-profit charitable corporation and was granted 501(c)(3) status from the IRS in May 2006.

The collaborative activities of HICE operate under a teams structure based on health care industry areas of focus that allow for standardization opportunities, such as claims, encounter data, appeals and grievances, credentialing, etc. Main teams can implement workgroups to provide a forum for focused topic areas as needed. New teams and workgroups are created as the need may arise in the industry and are implemented based on the potential of creating operational efficiencies through standardization of work product.

The HICE Board of Directors, those individuals who lead team activities, along with those who actively participate on teams, are all industry volunteers that are committed to producing quality standardized tools and processes for the betterment of the healthcare industry. They are the backbone of our organization, and their efforts and dedication have helped streamline operational requirements and minimize administrative costs, which, in turn, translates as an overall improved quality of experience for health care providers and patients.

HICE relies on voluntary annual funding from health plans, provider organizations and other health care industry entities to support educational and collaborative activities.

Please visit our Partners page, where we recognize the critical importance of these contributions from our partner organizations, including those with the special designation of being included in the CEO Leadership Circle.