We have now past the 19 year mark in our quest for healthcare interoperability. Under an executive order from president G W Bush, 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
CommonWell Advances Technical Services on Journey to TEFCA
CommonWell Health Alliance commits to network expansion and service enhancements in preparation for the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) and the next phase of interoperability. As part of this commitment, it is announcing a new Technical Service Provider, long-time Alliance member ELLKAY. TEFCA—which will be made up of Qualified Health Information Networks (QHINs)—is a common set of principles, terms and conditions designed to take the nationwide exchange of electronic health information to the next level.
Kno2 and CareEvolution Unite To Spearhead the Next Era of Clinical Information Exchange
To accelerate the adoption of healthcare communication, industry leaders Kno2 and CareEvolution announce a strategic partnership to revolutionize the exchange of clinical information.
East Tennessee Health Information Network (etHIN) Solves Duplicate Records Problem with Help of 4medica
4medica (@4medica), a renowned healthcare data quality leader specializing in enterprise master person index (eMPI) matching technology and real-time interoperability, announced that they have assisted etHIN with their work in management of duplicate patient records at East Tennessee Health Information Network (etHIN).
DirectTrust Releases New 2024 Accreditation Criteria Versions for Public Review through November 28
DirectTrust (@directtrustorg), a non-profit healthcare industry alliance, standards development, and accreditation body focused on advancing trust in healthcare, announced it has posted new versions of program criteria for 19 of its accreditation programs for public review and comment.
HITRUST Assurance Program Selected by Health3PT in Alignment with Recommended Practices
HITRUST (@hitrust), the information risk management, standards, and certification body, announced that the Health 3rd Party Trust Initiative (Health3PT) has approved HITRUST as the first assurance supplier supporting the Health3PT Recommended Practices & Implementation Guide. The selection of HITRUST is based on HITRUST’s alignment with Health3PT’s recommended practices for the healthcare industry to meet the challenges of Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) for vendor cyber risk.
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.
Civitas 2023 just wrapped and they are announcing next year in Detroit on October 15-17, 2024. Mark your calendar and keep an eye on your inbox for early-bird rates.
HIKE HEALTH® Joins Civitas Networks for Health Membership
HIKE HEALTH®, announced it has joined Civitas Networks for Health. Civitas includes member organizations working to use health information exchange, health data and multi-stakeholder, cross-sector approaches to improve health.
State HIE News
Manifest MedEx Delivers Enhanced California Public Health Disease Surveillance Platform
In developing a winning proposal for the SaPHIRE initiative, MX (@ManifestMedEx) sought a collaborator with extensive health information exchange expertise, a broad range of technical capabilities, and a proven ability to deliver complex solutions under extreme time pressure. They turned to J2 Interactive, a longtime trusted partner, to support their bid and help design a comprehensive solution that addressed all of CDPH’s requirements.
Redesigned Health Analytics Reporting Platform Now Available to HIE Participants
HealthInfoNet (@hinfonet) recently went live with its new Health Analytics Reporting Platform (HARP). The service represents a critical redesign of the HIE’s analytic and reporting system by modernizing and expanding the underlying infrastructure, technologies, methodologies, and use cases offered to participants in alignment with current healthcare priorities in Maine and nationally.
Hires and 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:
- Technical Program Manager, Implementations
Reports to: eHealth Exchange Vice President of Interoperability Adoption
FLSA Status: Exempt, Full Time
VITL
VITL is the legislatively designated operator of the Vermont Health Information Exchange (sometimes written VHIE and pronounced Vee-high), a secure infrastructure that gives health care organizations in Vermont the ability to electronically share and access their patients’ health information in order to improve the quality, safety, and cost of patient care. They have these open positions:
Delaware Health Information Network
Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) is the nation’s first statewide health information exchange. Established by statute as a not-for-profit public instrumentality, DHIN’s statutory mission is to facilitate the design and implementation of an integrated, statewide health data system to support the information needs of consumers, health plans, policymakers, providers, purchasers and researchers to improve the quality and efficiency of health care services in Delaware. They have openings as follows:
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.
Civitas is Hiring!
Program Coordinator (Term Limited)
Seeking highly organized and detail-oriented individual to join our team as a Program Coordinator. In this crucial role, you will play a vital part in supporting the administrative and logistical aspects of strategic initiatives and grant funded programs. Additionally, you will provide essential assistance to the programmatic work of various work groups and councils, ensuring the smooth functioning and success of our initiatives. This is a temporary, term limited, full-time, non-exempt position. As a Program Coordinator, you will report directly to the Vice President, Business Development and Programs, and will collaborate closely with program leads and external partners to achieve our program’s objectives. (Position is term-limited and is funded by one or more grant programs.)
Upcoming Events
RCE Monthly Informational Call
Tuesday, October 17 | 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET
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.
Register Here
ONC Virtual Event – Enabling Patient Access to Health Data for Actionable Results
When: Wednesday, October 18, 2023 12:00 – 4:30 pm ET
Register for this event.
Recent Department of Health and Human Services policy is bringing patients unprecedented access to their health information. Join ONC and CMS in October for a virtual event focused on patient access to health data. The day will bring together patients, providers, payers, and health IT developers to discuss how HHS policies are working in practice and how to maximize the impact of these policies. The event will also highlight educational tools and resources, such as patient-facing apps that enable the availability of patient information and make that health information easier to understand.
To ensure the widest participation possible, this event will now be all-virtual. Register today, and check out valuable information and resources about the patient’s right to their data on our website. If you would be interested in sharing a patient experience with accessing and using patient data, please share with them at their website.
eHealth Exchange Annual Meeting
When: November 14, 2023
Where: Town and Country Resort, San Diego CA
This year’s annual meeting will feature presentations and discussions requested by our eHealth Exchange participants.
Anticipated Topics include, Implementing Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), Supporting public health, Reaching rural health, Expanding federal agency participation, Increasing data usability. Spreading FHIR, and Exploring the network roadmap.
2023 Sequoia Project Annual Meeting
When: November 15-17, 2023
Where: Town and Country Resort, San Diego CA
Once again, you are invited to attend the 2023 Sequoia Project Annual Meeting. This year, Carequality will join the Sequoia Project to host a joint annual meeting with a single registration. The Sequoia Project members and Carequality implementers will have exclusive early access to registration. They are traveling to San Diego, California, for the event, and they hope to see you there.
Anticipated Meeting Topics: Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), Public Health, Data Usability, Information Sharing, Security and Privacy, Qualified Health Information Networks (QHINs),Consumer Engagement Strategies, Payment and Operations, Unconference Sessions, Patient Request / Patient Access, and FHIR.
Stay tuned for more details.
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. Here is a quick timeline.
Certification
- 6/30/20 – General Effective Date
- 4/5/21 – Compliance requirements start for information blocking, assurance, and API
- 4/5/21 – HIT developers prohibited from restricting certain communications
- 12/15/21 – Submit initial real world testing plans
- 4/1/22 – 1st attestation to conditions of Cert required
- 12/31/22 – New HL7 FHIR API capability and other update criteria must be made available
- 3/15/23 – Submit initial real world testing results
- 12/31/23 – EHI export capability must be made available
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 Releases TEFCA Facilitated FHIR IG Draft 2, and Updated Versions of QHIN Onboarding & Designation SOP and QHIN Application
- TEFCA Facilitated FHIR Implementation Guide, Draft 2 (Pilot Version)
- updated versions of the Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN) Onboarding & Designation Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
- QHIN Application for stakeholder feedback.
QHIN Applications Moving Forward
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.