Fragmented Health Systems Are Failing Native Communities — Interoperability Is the Fix

Disconnected electronic health records do not just create paperwork headaches — they cost lives in Indian Country.

Brenda Hood Sounds the Alarm at HIMSS 2026

At the HIMSS 2026 Global Conference in Las Vegas this April, Brenda Lucas Hood — Client Experience Analyst at HealtHIE Nevada and Tribal Liaison for the HIMSS Nevada Chapter — sat down for a one-on-one interview and did not mince words. “It’s critical. It’s very critical,” she said of digital health access for Native populations.

At its core, interoperability is the ability of different health systems and software to connect, communicate, and actually use one another’s data — think of it as a universal translator between hospital systems that currently speak completely different languages.

Hood brings 30 years of experience spanning health information exchanges, medical billing, case management, and Indian Health Service, including two years as a Medical Biller for all IHS hospitals and clinics across Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.

28 Tribes in Nevada Alone Cannot Wait

Nevada has 28 tribal reservations, most operating clinics in rural, infrastructure-limited settings. Hood described exactly how the breakdown happens: “Systems don’t talk to one another. And when you’re in a rural area and you’re getting transferred to an outsource for higher level of care, now that handicaps the care at the local level.” She identified three compounding barriers — no broadband infrastructure, insufficient tribal-level funding, and a widespread unfamiliarity with existing interoperability tools.

Many tribes operate under 638 self-determination contracts, fully separated from IHS, and now carry sole responsibility for building their own health technology ecosystems.

Digital Health Equity Starts With Advocacy

Hood’s mission is direct: recruit tribal liaisons in every state and ensure Our Relatives — especially elders in remote communities — know that help exists. “We need to make sure that we’re taking care of our native communities,” she said plainly. Her goal for the HIMSS Native American and Indigenous Chapter is equally focused: “to let them know that we are here for them, that we are here to advocate for them.” Watch her full HIMSS TV Insider interview above!

Ellsworth stands alongside advocates like Brenda Hood. As a 100% Navajo-owned, ISBEE-certified Native owned small business staffing Indian Health Service facilities across Indian Country, we are committed to closing care gaps — one clinician, one community at a time. Contact Ellsworth today to bring culturally competent healthcare staffing to your tribal health program.