VERONA, Wis., December 12, 2023 – Today Epic Nexus, a subsidiary of Epic, becomes one of the first organizations to achieve Qualified Health Information Network (QHINTM) designation. Providers using Epic – including many of the country’s leading health systems – can now choose to securely exchange information through the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common AgreementSM (TEFCA), a new national health exchange framework to improve patient care and advance interoperability nationwide. Epic customers, including 498 hospitals, have already pledged to join TEFCA.
“This single on-ramp toward universal interoperability will help clinicians connect to each other and better serve patients, regardless of their electronic health record vendor,” said Matt Doyle, Software Developer at Epic. “We hope this public-private partnership will spur providers who have previously not participated in nationwide interoperability to join this initiative.”
“Having access to a patient’s complete medical record is key to providing the highest quality of care, and that is only truly possible through interoperability,” noted Craig Richardville, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Intermountain Health. “Providers across the country already recognize the untapped potential and need to join TEFCA for the benefit of patients everywhere.”
Last year, Epic announced its intent to support provider customers joining TEFCA and has closely collaborated with The Sequoia Project, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), and the industry at large to build consensus around TEFCA, which was first authorized in 2016 by the 21st Century Cures Act.
This milestone opens another chapter in the Epic community’s history of championing interoperability. In 2008, the Epic provider community began utilizing Care Everywhere, the first interoperability platform of its kind, which now helps exchange 16 million patient records every day. Additionally, all of Epic’s health system customers use Carequality, a framework that connects around 70% of hospitals nationwide.
To learn more about Epic’s leading role in interoperability, visit www.epic.com/software/interoperability.
