We are now nearing the 20 year mark in our quest for healthcare interoperability. Under an executive order from president G W Bush (April 2004), the ONC was established and Dr. David Brailer was dubbed “America’s first Health Information Czar.” The Meaningful Use program was then born out of the HITECH Act and Merit-Based Incentive Payment System was then born our of the MACRA legislation. And then information sharing from the CURES Act. And now the release of Trusted Exchange Framework and the Common Agreement (TEFCA). All trying to move our healthcare system to the digital age, better outcomes, controlling and reducing costs, and patient access to their health data. It has not been an easy road and the debate of the journey will never end.
Industry and Contract News
Carequality Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary and Growth Milestone
Carequality, a nationwide, common interoperability trust framework to enable health information exchange between and among health information networks, celebrates 10 years since it was launched. Carequality supports the exchange of more than 745,000,000 documents monthly across disparate technologies, geographies, and networks.
Availity Launches Solutions Suite for Payer-to-Payer Data Exchange
Availity, a real-time health information network, announced a comprehensive suite of technology solutions and services designed to assist health plans and providers in achieving compliance with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule (CMS-0057-F), which was published on January 17, 2024.
Kno2 Launches New MuleSoft Integration
Kno2, announced a new MuleSoft Certified Connector for Kno2, which is accessible in the MuleSoft Anypoint Exchange and will allow companies to simplify integration to Kno2 Connector – Mule 4.
MRO Launches New Capability to Ensure Quality Patient Care Across the Healthcare Continuum
MRO Corp, a clinical data exchange company in healthcare, announces an extension of automated retrieval services by leveraging technology to improve patient care across the healthcare continuum. MRO is now automating data exchange between providers for continuity of care (COC) purposes. The automated retrieval of patient medical records allows for a more seamless exchange, quicker turnaround times, and improved patient care and satisfaction.
Spotlight on Community Networks
The Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI) and the Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative (SHIEC) announced a formal affiliation between the two organizations to form a new organization named Civitas Networks for Health. The organization serves as a platform for local nonprofit health collaboratives and health information exchanges to grow and thrive. Read their latest news. Follow them @civitas4health.
Mark your calendars for Civitas 2024 in Detroit on October 15-17, 2024 and keep an eye on your inbox for early-bird rates.
Civitas Networks for Health to Host 2024 Annual Conference in Detroit This October
Civitas Networks for Health announced its 2024 Annual Conference, slated for Tuesday, October 15 through Thursday, October 17, 2024, in Detroit, Michigan. Under the theme ‘Bridging Data and Doing’, this year’s gathering is not only poised to unite Civitas’ 170+ member organizations, but also bring health transformation and health data professionals from across the country together, fostering a collaborative environment to explore the vital synergy of increased data sharing to drive meaningful action.
State HIE News
Manifest MedEx Joins NCQA’s Digital Content Services Early Adopter Program
Manifest MedEx, California’s largest nonprofit health data network, announced it will participate in the NCQA Digital Content Services Early Adopter Program to advance digitized quality measurement initiatives and help shape NCQA’s framework and approach to enabling the practical and flexible use of digital quality measures across the full spectrum of value-based care use cases, including quality reporting for health plans.
Maryland’s Episode Quality Improvement Program, EQIP, Saved $20 Million In It’s First Year
CRISP, Maryland’s state designated HIE, is excited to share a press release published by the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC), regrading savings from the first performance year of the Episode Quality Improvement Program (EQIP). CRISP, acts as the administrator for this program.
Michigan Health Information Network Receives Going PRO Talent Fund Grants to Invest in Next Generation Health IT Workforce
The Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHIN) announced that its family of companies has been awarded three respective grants from the 2024 Going PRO Talent Fund (Talent Fund) program.
Hires and Openings
New York eHealth Collaborative
New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) is a not-for-profit organization working in partnership with the New York State Department of Health to improve healthcare by collaboratively leading, connecting, and integrating health information exchange across the State. They are currently seeking the following positions:
Contexture
Contexture is a nonprofit organization that provides strategic, technical and administrative support to communities committed to advancing health through information sharing. As the leading health information exchange for Arizona and Colorado, Contexture is the largest health information organization in the western region. They currently have an opening for a Chief Legal Officer & Privacy Officer.
Health Gorilla
Health Gorilla aspires to cut through the noise and disrupt the healthcare information technology space – making interoperability possible and ensuring access for developers, providers, and patients. Join them in their quest to improve patient and physician satisfaction, care delivery, clinical and operational outcomes, and health equity. View all their current job openings.
eHealth Exchange
Active in all 50 states, the eHealth Exchange is the largest query-based, health information network in the country. It is the principal network that connects federal agencies and non-federal organizations, allowing them to work together to improve patient care and public health. They have an open position for:
- Interoperability Product Manager
Reports to: eHealth Exchange Vice President of Interoperability Adoption
FLSA Status: Exempt, Full Time
Supervisory Responsibility: N/A
Upcoming Events
KONZA National Network
When: Thursday, May 9, 2024 1:00 – 2:00pm ET
Register for this event.
TEFCA HIE Office Hours with KONZA – Join them for TEFCA HIE Office Hours, a monthly opportunity for you to join a live webinar where they will provide support and answer all your TEFCA and QHIN-related questions. Onboarding HIEs to TEFCA has its unique challenges, spanning technical, policy and contract considerations, and they are here to support you through the process. Each session will focus on a different QHIN topic relevant to HIEs with half the time reserved for Q&A. Topic for January 26, 2024: QHIN to HIE Contracts
2024 WEDI Spring Conference
When: May 13-16, 2024
Where: Virtual Multi-Day Showcase
Register for this event.
Join them for 4 fantastic days of best practices, solutions, lessons learned and emerging trends. In addition to sessions on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, standards and more, we’re paying special attention to Prior Authorization and Data Exchange solutions as the industry continues to identify new and innovative ways to improve information exchange, enhance care quality, and reduce cost and burden.
Special spotlight on one of the many topics covered at the WEDI Spring Conference!
The Sequoia Project, through its initiatives, and its engagement with government and industry, are experts who can identify the barriers to interoperability and pioneer processes to make health information exchange work on a national level.
Tune in to hear Mariann Yeager, CEO at The Sequoia Project, Payers, Providers, and QHINs participating in Sequoia Project interoperability initiatives. Learn about the work underway to help payers comply with CMS rules, what’s new with QHINS, and how a new nationwide data usability movement will improve health data quality.
RCE Monthly Informational Call
When: Tuesday, May 21, 2024 12:00 – 1:00 pm ET
Register for this event.
The Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) hosts a public informational call as an opportunity to share information about the progress to-date on the third Tuesday of each month. View previous calls.
2024 DirectTrust Annual Conference
When: September 22-25, 2024
Where: St. Louis Hilton at the Ballpark, St. Louis, Missouri
Event Page
Registration now open.
Hashtag: #DirectTrust2024
DirectTrust is proud to announce their 2024 Conference, themed “The Future of Trust in Health.” Set against the backdrop of St. Louis, Missouri, from September 22-25th, this event is dedicated to exploring and constructively bridging the tensions between usability, privacy, security, identity, and collaboration within the interconnected health ecosystem.
ONC's Cures Act Final Rule
In May of 2020 the 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program released by the ONC and published in the Federal Register.
The TEFCA Players
ONC Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE)
The Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) – The Sequoia Project (@sequoiaproject)is responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining the Common Agreement component of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA). The Common Agreement is the baseline technical and legal requirements for health information networks to share electronic health information and is part of the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act).
In addition they will collaborate with ONC to designate and monitor Qualified Health Information Networks (QHIN), modify and update an accompanying QHIN Technical Framework, engage with stakeholders through virtual public listening sessions, adjudicate noncompliance with the Common Agreement, and propose sustainability strategies to support TEFCA beyond the cooperative agreement’s period of performance.
On August 28, 2023, the ONC awarded The Sequoia Project 5-Year TEFCA RCE Contract to continue their services.
RCE Resource Library – which includes a guide to the Common Agreement, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), technical documents, and other resources that make up TEFCA’s rules of the road. Start your journey to next generation interoperability here.
Designated QHINs as of February 2024
Interoperability Market
According to Allied Market Research, the healthcare interoperability solutions market size was valued at $5,320.0 million in 2020, and is expected to reach $21,544.6 million by 2030, registering a CAGR of 14.9% from 2021 to 2030. Interoperability in healthcare refers to timely and secure access, integration and use of electronic health data so that it can be used to optimize health outcomes for individuals and populations. As populations around the world age and people live longer, interoperability and data sharing are going to become increasingly critical for delivering effective healthcare. Interoperability is the ability of two or more systems to exchange health information and use the information once it is received.
According to the report published by Fior Markets, the global healthcare data interoperability market is expected to grow from USD 2.83 billion in 2020 and to reach USD 5.80 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 9.38% during the forecast period 2021-2028. The primary reasons driving healthcare interoperability market growth include a growing focus on patient care, a growing need to tighten healthcare costs, and government measures to improve patient experience of treatment. System interoperability, information interchange, and data availability are all important factors in improving health outcomes. Individual health data is mobilized throughout the whole range of care providers in health organizations, enabling coordinated, safe, and high-quality treatment that supports payment reforms, transparency efforts, and individuals’ ability to control their health.