TEFCA, record-location and benefits for providers and patients

In the US, big leaps have been made toward industry-wide interoperability in recent years. From establishing a standard set of health data that must be exchanged, to broadening the scope of the ban on information blocking—recent regulations have driven positive advancements to simplify health data sharing across vendors and venues of care.   On top of all that, the Office of the National Coordinator and The Sequoia Project, the Recognized Coordinating Entity for the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) established under the 21st Century Cures Act, announced the first applications accepted for Qualified Health Information Networks (QHINs) under the TEFCA. That short list included CommonWell Health Alliance, of which Cerner,  now Oracle Health, was a founding member nearly a decade ago.  This is a leap forward in achieving our vision for interoperability. Our shared goal with CommonWell joining TEFCA is to build a nationwide health information exchange,  leveraging a collaborative trade organization, that will help give patients access to their healthcare data regardless of where they receive care.    Listen in as we talk about the exciting progress toward nationwide interoperability and how it will benefit patients and providers.   Featuring: Paul Wilder, Executive Director, CommonWell Health Alliance Sam Lambson, Vice President of Interoperability, Oracle Health   Hear them discuss: • TEFCA and what it means for advancing interoperability (2:10)  • Benefits of better information exchange for providers and patients (3:49) • How a record-location service is more accurate, efficient and secure than geo-locating like many systems use today (6:45) • When does TEFCA start affecting patients and providers at the point of care? (13:04) •How does TEFCA impact gaps between care, translating care, and settings of care, like telehealth? How does it affect patient engagement and involvement? (17:00) • Ways to learn more and ask questions (19:20)    Notable quotes:  "Me having my data is not just a toy. It's not just I want the image because it's interesting … I want the report. It's that I want to manage my health, or that of my children, or my parents in a better way—which I think in the end is really going to benefit the provider." - Paul Wilder  "And think of mental health—it gets even more robust as we're expanding services a lot right now. If we don't do it efficiently, it's going to get very expensive. And getting past all those administrative flows to get to the care you need at the level the person can do it in front of you—as opposed to what the data is allowing you to do—is, I think, really important." - Paul Wilder   Resources TEFCA: A leap toward achieving nationwide interoperability Sequoia Project CommonWell Health Alliance Reacts to QHIN Application Approval