Oracle Health to request QHIN status
Electronic health records vendor Oracle Health said Monday at the Oracle Health Summit that it would begin the process of establishing itself as a Qualified Health Information Network under the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Oracle’s cloud infrastructure could make data sharing faster and more efficient for hospitals, clinics and insurers by reducing the layers of technology required to share electronic health information, the EHR vendor said in the announcement.
“As we move forward in the TEFCA QHIN application process, Oracle will continue to lead the industry in delivering solutions that help reduce cost and complexity and improve the usability of information for patients and healthcare providers,” said Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager of Oracle Health and Life Sciences, in a statement.
Oracle said EHI’s sharing capabilities are also being designed to handle medical imaging – data types not typically available on other exchanges.
Oracle, a founding member of the CommonWell Health Alliance, which facilitates data exchange for 171 million individuals, said it plans to remain a member of the exchange network and support other industry interoperability efforts throughout the QHIN process.
THE BIG TREND
Many patient information holders, from giants like Epic to statewide health information exchanges like ConnectVirginia, signed up with TEFCA in 2022 and went live in 2023.
Since that time, the Sequoia Project, the initiative’s recognized coordinating entity, has updated protocols to support broader use of Health Level Seven Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources-based transactions, including electronic case reporting procedures. The RCE has released the second version of the Common Agreement – ie TEFCA 2.0 – earlier this year.
Then, in August, Carequality announced it would align its interoperability strategy with TEFCA, while CommonWell, one of TEFCA’s seven qualified healthcare information networks, announced new members and enhanced capabilities – such as HITRUST certification – last month.
Although Commonwell started in 2013, the network partnered with interoperability vendor ELLKAY to streamline integration and care coordination workflows and provide a smoother onboarding experience for service users. Carequality, which launched in 2014, said it continues to refine procedures to align with TEFCA where necessary.
“Disrupting existing interoperability frameworks poses too great a risk to patient outcomes,” healthcare quality leaders said in a statement. “This is why we are strategically and methodically evolving to meet the needs of our dynamic community now, as we plan to come together with TEFCA in the future.”
ON THE RECORD
“As a long-time advocate of giving patients control over their data, Oracle Health continues to demonstrate its commitment to making data more available, useful and secure,” Verma said in a statement.
Andrea Fox is editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.