Qualifying for the DSA Grant Through DxF-Ready Clinical Workflows

California’s Data Exchange Framework (DxF) is transforming how healthcare providers securely share information across organizations. As a DSA Signatory, Dr. Marine Demirjian, a board-certified allergy and immunology specialist, took an initiative to modernize her documentation and workflow capabilities. By integrating Abstractive Health, an AI tool for record retrieval, summarization and clinical reasoning, she was able to achieve the technical and operational goals required under the DSA Signatory Grant Program thus helping her qualify for grant support and setting her practice up for continual interoperability success.

Background:

Dr. Demirjian leads the Allergy and Asthma Treatment Center in Glendale, CA, an independent specialty clinic that treats patients with complex allergic and immunologic conditions. As a physician who often coordinates with primary care providers, labs, and specialists, she recognized the need for real time health data exchange..

As a required DSA Signatory under California Health & Safety Code 130290, Dr. Demirjian prioritized compliance with DxF policies and procedures and took strategic steps to qualify for a Technical Assistance (TA) Grant under the DSA Signatory Grant Program. She was able to get ahead of the curve, since smaller organizations like hers have until 2026 to fully implement DxF requirements.

The Challenge: Independent practices like Dr. Demirjian’s often face resource limitations when implementing new interoperability infrastructure. Key challenges included:

• Extracting structured, exchange-ready data from free-text documentation
• Aligning clinical workflows with DSA policies and DxF-compliant data exchange formats
• Meeting grant milestones while maintaining a high standard of patient care

The Solution:To bridge these gaps, Dr. Demirjian found Abstractive Health, a certified Carequality® implementer and AI-powered solution that connects the practice to health information exchanges across the US, transforms messy clinical documentation into structured summaries, and allows for query and response via a chatlike interface on the patient chart.

With Abstractive Health, her practice was able to:

• Generate CCDAs and easily build USCDI-compliant clinical summaries from existing notes
• Incorporate structured output into Practice Fusion® with Abstractive’s SMART on FHIR integration
• Streamline information sharing without the burden of manual data entry
• Accelerate documentation improvements that directly support the goals of her DSA TA Grant

“This wasn’t just about compliance. It was about improving how we communicate with other providers and serve our patients more effectively.” - Dr. Marine Demirjian

Grant Alignment & Outcomes:

Under the TA Grant guidance, Dr. Demirjian’s practice met all of the approved outcomes below:

• Contracted with a technical solution to help achieve DxF-compliant real-time data exchange
• Implemented a technology solution capable of supporting real-time data exchange
• Updated operational workflows to support electronic exchange with external providers

- FROM THE DSA SIGNATORY GRANTS: GUIDANCE DOCUMENT PAGE 14

The use of Abstractive Health aligns with permissible uses of TA grant funds, including contracting a Health IT vendor and supporting workflow development.

Results:By taking a structured and proactive approach, Dr. Demirjian’s practice:

• Successfully qualified and won the DSA Grant
• Enhanced her practice’s exchange capabilities without a full system overhaul
• Reduced documentation time and improved note clarity for referrals
• Established a foundation for sustained DxF compliance and collaboration with external providers

Looking Ahead and Takeaways:

Dr. Demirjian’s investment in AI-driven documentation not only met immediate grant milestones - it also positioned her practice for long-term success in California’s evolving data exchange landscape.

-> Even small practices can meet DxF goals with the right vendor and workflow strategy

-> AI summarization tools like Abstractive Health reduce the burden of real-time exchange readiness

-> The DSA TA Grant is a valuable opportunity for independent providers to modernize without disruption