The eHealth Exchange said that the Indian Health Service, by designating it as its Qualified Health Information Network, is now exchanging health data under the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
While most federal health agencies are evaluating their TEFCA strategies, IHS, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the first to provide or pay for healthcare to go live with its data modernization efforts, according to eHealth Exchange.
“I have worked with other federal agencies to emphasize the importance and value of participating in TEFCA – for them, and more importantly, for the American people,” said Dr. Micky Tripathi, Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and National Coordinator for Health Information. technology and acting Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer at HHS, said in the network’s announcement last week.
“IHS is showing leadership in its decision to join TEFCA,” Tripathi added.
The comprehensive health care system provides care to approximately 2.8 million American Indians and Alaska Natives, who belong to 574 federally recognized tribes in 37 states. IHS has 45 hospitals, including 19 critical access hospitals, 59 health centers and 32 health stations.
The agency has been working with eHealth Exchange since 2011, when the network was originally founded, the network said in a statement.
“As we worked on tribal consent requirements, we wanted to ensure technical readiness for TEFCA exchanges with private sector, public health, and regional and state health information exchanges,” noted IHS Chief Information Officer Mitch Thornbrough.
“eHealth Exchange remains the primary way agencies exchange clinical data with the private sector,” said Jay Nakashima, president of eHealth Exchange.
THE BIG TREND
IHS has been a participant in the eHealth Exchange since 2020 and has long been represented on the Coordinating Committee, a group of federal and non-federal participants that jointly provide governance, oversight, management and support of the trust framework for its network participants.
Last year, the agency announced it would update its electronic health records over a 10-year, $2.5 billion periodHealth Information Technology Modernization Programreplacing the 40-year-old system with Oracle technology to be built, configured and maintained by General Dynamics Information Technology.
“With the new EHR system, patients will have better access to their own health information, providers can more effectively coordinate patient care within and outside our network, and we can better monitor the health of tribal communities overall,” said IHS Director Roselyn Tso . in a statement at the time.
Like Epic, Oracle announced plans in October to become a QHIN – the pillars of network-to-network exchange. The EHR vendor said its cloud infrastructure could accelerate data sharing by minimizing the layers of technology required to share electronic health information, including medical imaging.
HHS also released the latest version of TEFCA in October, initially implemented under the 21st Century Cures Act and live since a year ago.
ASTP said that v2.1 addresses a structure for interoperability disputes and creates a framework for assessing potential TEFCA participants. It adds terms and conditions of participation for participants and sub-participants, which outline the requirements that each participant and sub-participant must agree to and adhere to in order to participate in TEFCA.
ON THE RECORD
“eHealth Exchange has been our national network of choice for more than a decade,” Thornbrough said in a statement. “When we considered our participation in TEFCA, eHealth Exchange was a logical choice.”
“As we look ahead to 2025, we are excited about the opportunity to expand TEFCA connectivity to even more federal agencies,” said Nakashima.