User Instructions

California Health and Safety Code § 130290 requires that the following entities sign the Data Exchange Framework (DxF) Data Sharing Agreement (DSA): General acute care hospitals, physician organizations and medical groups, skilled nursing facilities, health service plans and disability insurers (including Medi-Cal managed care plans), clinical laboratories, acute psychiatric hospitals, and emergency medical services. The DSA incorporates a series of policies and procedures (rules for how Participants participate in the DxF, including which data is exchanged). The DSA and its Policies and Procedures can be downloaded from the CalHHS DxF website. Additional information about the DSA signing process is available on the DxF website.

The Process

This is a multi-step process:

  • First, you will create an account and register your organization.
  • Second, you will enter information about your organization.
  • Third, you will enter information about subordinate organizations (if any).
  • Finally, you will send the Data Sharing Agreement to the signatory for signature.

Later, if you need to edit / update the signed DSA, or need to add an additional subordinate organization, you can make changes and resend the DSA for signature.

Steps to Register & Sign the Data Sharing Agreement

1. Navigate to the DxF DSA Signing Portal.

2. As a first-time user, click the link Sign in/Register. (If a returning user, enter your name and password.)

3. Enter your email and click Send Verification Code. Check your email and enter the verification code in the portal. Once verified, create a password containing upper- and lower-case text and either symbols or numbers.

4. Then enter your name, the legal name of the organization that will be signing the DSA, your job title, and your phone number. Click Create. You will now go to the DSA Signing Portal. You will also receive a welcome message from CalHHS in your email account.

5. The portal will show your name in the upper right corner; click on My Organizations to begin. You will see the name of the organization that you entered upon registering. Click on that link to proceed.

6. You have two options to designate who is signing the DSA on behalf of the organization:

  • You may sign on behalf of the organization yourself.
  • You may designate someone else to sign on behalf of the organization.

7. You have two options for the organizations to which the signed DSA applies:

  • It may apply to your organization alone.
  • It may apply to your organization and all subordinate organizations. Subordinate organizations are facilities that are part of a parent organization where the signatory of the parent organization has authority to sign on their behalf. For example, the CEO of a health system might be authorized to sign on behalf of multiple hospitals and medical groups.
    • If your organization has no subordinate organizations or facilities, but qualifies for more than one type, enter each type as a subordinate organization with the type and license number. If you have subordinate organizations and one would qualify as two organization types, enter it as two suborganizations with the name, type, and license number as applicable.
    • To enter Type and Subtype, click on the magnifying glass to the right of that field (the search icon) to bring up the table for selection. See the Type list at the end of these instructions.
    • NOTE: Nothing in this Type list implies that the listed types are required to sign, nor is the list intended to expand on legislative language or expand the list of required signatories. These types are being collected solely to assist evaluation and tracking of the mandatory and voluntary signatories of the DSA.

8. Determine the following:

  • Who is authorized to sign for the organization?
  • What subordinate organizations will be included (if any)?
    • Identify the subordinate organization Type and Subtype. Click on the magnifying glass (search icon) to bring up the table for selection. See the Type list at the end of these instructions.
    • Gather any applicable California state license numbers. For general acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, health service plans and disability insurers, Medi-Cal managed care plans, clinical laboratories, and acute psychiatric hospitals, a California state license number is required.
      • For general acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, or psychiatric hospitals, use the license number issued by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
      • For health care service plans or disability insurers, including Medi-Cal managed care plans, use the license number issued by the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) or the California Department of Insurance (CDI), or the risk-bearing organization (RBO) number.
      • For Medi-Cal managed care plans that are not licensed by the DMHC or the CDI, use the contract number issued by the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS).
      • For clinical laboratories, use the laboratory license number issued by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). Do not use the federally-issued Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) number.

9. Fill in the required information for the Primary Organization (this is the parent organization for organizations with subordinate organizations) and the Signatory. Click SAVE & CLOSE.

10. Go back to My Organizations; you may now add SUBORDINATE ORGANIZATIONS. Enter the required information for each. You may add as many as needed.

11. When all data has been entered, be sure to SAVE. Click SEND DSA FOR SIGNATURE to send the DSA to the signatory.

12. When the signing individual receives the DSA in their email account, they can open the email, click to open the document, then review, and finally, click to sign. The signed DSA will be automatically sent back to the signing portal for storage; it appears as a link to a downloadable document on the bottom of the My Organizations page. A signed copy will also be automatically sent to the signer.

PRO TIPS:

Always click SAVE & CLOSE after entries.

When in doubt, go back to My Organizations.

FOR SUPPORT:  email dxf@hcai.ca.gov

At a later time, you may need to update a signed DSA. To do this, you will create a new DSA that replaces the original. All DSAs include a date-time description in the file name, and all will appear at the bottom of the primary organization page in your account.

  • If you need to edit / update a signed DSA, simply make the changes in your organizational data. Then click Resend DSA for Signature on the My Organizations page. This new DSA will be an addendum to the original DSA and will reflect the edits / updates.
  • If you need to add a new subordinate organization to your signed DSA, do so from the My Organizations page and click SAVE & CLOSE once you have entered the subordinate organization information. Click Resend DSA for Signature. When signed, this DSA becomes a new, separate document showing the incremental change and is an addendum to the original DSA with a new date-time designator.

Type and Subtype list:

1. Acute Care Settings

  • Acute psychiatric hospital
  • General acute care hospital
  • Other acute care setting

2. Ambulatory Care Settings

  • Ambulatory surgery center or accredited outpatient setting
  • Behavioral or mental health clinic
  • Clinic – Community, intermittent, rural
  • Clinic – Specialty
  • Faculty practice
  • Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)
  • Health center program look-alikes
  • Independent practice associations
  • Medical foundation
  • Medical group practice, professional medical corporation, medical partnership, or other lawfully organized group of physicians and surgeons that provides, delivers, furnishes, or otherwise arranges for health care services
  • Other ambulatory care settings
  • Physician practice
  • Rural health center (RHC)
  • Substance use disorder treatment clinic
  • Urgent care

3. Ancillary Care

  • Clinical laboratory
  • Imaging/radiology center
  • Other ancillary care provider

4. Community-Based Organizations

  • Continuum of Care organization (CoC)
  • Other community-based service provider

5. Counties

  • Behavioral health plan (SMH plans, Medi-Cal RX and DMC-ODS entities)
  • Behavioral health provider
  • Corrections entity (Sheriff’s department, jail, youth corrections facility, probation office)
  • County welfare or social services department
  • Department of health
  • Department of public health
  • General acute care hospital
  • Health care service plans and disability insurer
  • Other county service
  • Psychiatric hospital

6. Emergency Medical Service Providers

7. Intermediaries

  • Community Information Exchange Intermediary Organization (CIE)
  • Health Information Exchange Intermediary Organization (HIO)
  • Other intermediary

8. Parent Only, Not Exchanging

9. Pharmacy

10. Plans

  • Health care service plans and disability insurer
  • Medi-Cal managed care plan not regulated by DMHC or CDI
  • Other plan

11. Public Health

  • Public Health – Local Health Jurisdiction
  • Public Health – Other
  • Public Health – State Government

12. Social Service

  • Social Service – City Government
  • Social Service – Other
  • Social Service – State Government

13. Subacute Care Facility

  • Assisted living facility
  • Inpatient rehabilitation facility
  • Long term acute care hospital
  • Other long term care facility
  • Skilled nursing facility