EHR Vendor Epic Announces Plan to Join TEFCA Interoperability Network

EHR vendor Epic has announced its plan to join The Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), a new health information exchange framework that is set to improve health data interoperability nationwide.

TEFCA will bring health information networks together to help ensure that providers have access to complete, longitudinal health records for patients no matter where they seek care. In the future, TEFCA will grow to support other use cases such as public health.

Epic worked with ONC, The Sequoia Project, and the broader healthcare community to build consensus around the standards and procedures of TEFCA.

When the application process opens later this year, Epic will apply to join TEFCA as an inaugural Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN).

"Our fundamental goal is to help all patients receive informed, personalized care—regardless of where they go to receive it," Dave Fuhrmann, senior vice president of interoperability at Epic, noted in a press release. "Our customers have led the way with large-scale interoperability through Carequality, and we're happy to help with the next stage in the evolution of interoperability."

ONC and The Sequoia Project, announced the publication of TEFCA in February.

“We want to create a uniform for interoperability so that every authorized user, including individuals, have a baseline expectation of being able to get basic medical record information securely and reliably across the network, regardless of where they are geographically or which vendor or technology they're using,” Mickey Tripathi, national coordinator for health IT, said in a press briefing at the time of the announcement.