By Buff Colchagoff – The reindeer had a choice: join Santa now or wait to see if the idea took off. It’s not unlike the decision healthcare organizations face today: whether to join TEFCA and a QHIN now or adopt a wait-and-see approach. Both scenarios offer compelling reasons to leap early rather than lag behind. Let’s take a closer look through a Christmas lens.
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By Jay Nakashima & A. John Blair III MD -Trust is essential when it comes to accessing health care data. That is why we have been so consistently laser-focused on trust and “getting it right” for the patient as we’ve launched a new government-sponsored health data exchange framework.
By Holly Miller MD – A recent ONC report showcased the gains providers have made towards interoperability. 70% of non-federal acute care hospitals routinely or sometimes engaged in interoperability last year (send, receive, find, integrate), an increase from 46% in 2018.
By John Blair MD – In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the American healthcare system began a long-overdue reckoning with the social and racial inequities that have traditionally plagued the nation and generated significant disparities in health outcomes.
The ONC announced that two additional organizations—CommonWell Health Alliance and Kno2—have been designated as Qualified Health Information Networks™ (QHINs) capable of nationwide health data exchange governed by the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement.
By Jim Tate – I attended the recent HIMSS conference in Chicago with a particular interest in finding out what is going on with the TEFCA. This interoperability initiative, more than six years in the making, appears to be close to bearing fruit. My observations are based on conversations with pending QHINs, TEFCA presentations, and a little eavesdropping.
Supporting the adoption of health IT and the promotion of nationwide health information exchange to improve health care, here is what is happening at the ONC, including the first TEFCA Applicant QHINs approved, an upcoming SDOH Learning Forum, public feedback for the Draft USCDI v4 & more.
By Jim Tate – The process to become a designated QHIN is a long and arduous journey, not for the faint of heart. Here are the 6 initial entities that have been designated.
Today HHS Secretary Becerra recognized a major interoperability milestone and announced the first set of applicant organizations that are approved for onboarding as QHINs under TEFCA. Meet the QHINs.