Health systems on Epic are first to connect with the Social Security Administration through TEFCA 

Customers of Epic are the first to share medical records with the Social Security Administration (SSA) through TEFCA, the federally sponsored interoperability network. Secure electronic exchange helps SSA make benefit determinations typically up to 50% faster, streamlining the process for Americans with disabilities.¹

SSA’s new connection will accelerate electronic record sharing with health systems nationwide and further distinguish TEFCA as the universal onramp for interoperability. The first set of Epic customers to connect to SSA through TEFCA includes: 

• AltaMed (Los Angeles, CA) 
• Citizen Potawatomi Nation Health Services (Shawnee, OK) 
• Overlake Hospital Medical Center (Bellevue, WA) 
• Saint Francis Health System (Tulsa, OK) 
• Valleywise Health (Phoenix, AZ) 

“By leveraging national interoperability frameworks like TEFCA and collaborating with Electronic Health Record providers to receive patient records electronically, SSA’s digital-first approach is ensuring that Americans receive the service and benefits they need, when they need them,” said SSA Chief of Disability Adjudication Jay Ortis. 

“TEFCA provides a new, streamlined option for data exchange with SSA that will improve outcomes for millions of people by making it easier for more organizations to connect,” said Rob Klootwyk, Epic’s Director of Interoperability. “As the first health systems to share records with SSA through TEFCA, our customers continue to champion interoperability.”

Epic customers have shared more than 11 million records with SSA over the past 15 years through networks such as Carequality and the eHealth Exchange. These exchanges helped nearly 500,000 people in 2025. With TEFCA, Epic’s customers have connected an additional 13 hospitals and 374 clinics, with many more to come.

The MetroHealth System (Cleveland, OH) and OCHIN (Portland, OR), two of the first Epic customers to connect with SSA, have reported significant benefits for their patients.  

“The SSA connection is good for our patients’ physical and mental wellbeing,” said Dr. David Kaelber, Chief Health Informatics Officer of the MetroHealth System, which serves more than 325,000 people in northeast Ohio. “Interoperability makes it possible for people to receive SSA benefits much faster, allowing them to focus on getting well, managing chronic conditions, and planning for the future. We once had someone’s benefits approved within one business day of submission. It was amazing. We are excited to see TEFCA accelerate adoption of the SSA connection at health systems across the country.”

“Secure interoperability with SSA measurably improves the health of patients with disabilities in the OCHIN network,” said Jennifer Stoll, Chief External Affairs Officer at OCHIN. “This initiative drastically reduces the amount of time it takes to ensure patients receive much needed resources to support their health and well-being.”

Connecting with SSA through TEFCA continues Epic’s many years’ effort leading interoperability. Epic began work on the world’s first platform for nationwide interoperability in 2005 and launched Care Everywhere in 2008. Care Everywhere was the first network to allow exchange of medical records between health systems directly with no need to warehouse records in a central database. Epic staff visited each of its customers to install Care Everywhere and today Epic customers have achieved 100% connectivity.

_{1 Social Security Joins TEFCA Network to Improve Disability Decision Processing | News | SSA}