Partner Mel Soliz recently moderated a panel at The Sequoia Project and Carequality Annual Meeting, bringing together health information experts nationwide to explore the policy and technical challenges of managing patient privacy preferences across complex health data exchange environments.

The session, “Solving the Consent Puzzle: Navigating Policy, Technical Barriers, and Computable Consent Standards,” examined why electronic consent management and data segmentation remain difficult to implement at scale, particularly amid varying state and federal regulations.

Leveraging expertise from her roles as co-chair of The Sequoia Project’s Privacy & Consent Workgroup and a member of the Carequality Advisory Council, Mel guided the discussion on emerging standards, practical strategies for automating consent workflows, and opportunities to honor patient preferences consistently throughout various health information systems.

The Sequoia Project is a national advocate for health information exchange that unites key industry stakeholders to advance more secure and effective data sharing. Originally established as a Sequoia Project initiative and now an independent nonprofit, Carequality provides a common policy and technical framework that helps streamline data exchange across networks.

Mel’s practice focuses on health data interoperability, privacy, data-sharing arrangements, health information networks and exchanges, technology contracting, and related regulatory and litigation risk. She is a frequent national speaker and active contributor to health data policy discussions and was named The Sequoia Project’s 2024 Volunteer of the Year.