TEFCA presents a 'tremendous business opportunity' for developers, say interop experts

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement, known as TEFCA, officially went live in January – heralding an exciting new age of data-sharing in the United States.

"Healthcare is very local," said Paul Wilder, executive director of the CommonWell Health Alliance, during a HIMSS22 panel with other interoperability leaders Tuesday. "Ninety-seven percent of the data about you is in your local home. Fantastic.

"What about the 3%?" he continued. "Sometimes that 3% really matters. Sometimes it really, really does." 

The problem of accessing that remaining 3% of data is solvable, he added, with the help of TEFCA's infrastructure: "A network, of network, of networks."

The panelists also discussed the potential inherent in another exchange purpose: individual access services (IAS).

As outlined in the common agreement, IAS is defined as services any Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN), participant or sub-participant provide to an individual to satisfy their request to access, inspect or obtain a copy of their information.

The idea, explained Mariann Yeager, CEO of the recognized coordinating entity Sequoia Project, is that an individual's gateway to participating in TEFCA would be using an app or platform of their choice to connect to a QHIN – or a QHIN could offer its own app for the same purpose.

"That would give the individual, really, the same connectivity that exists today for healthcare providers and other actors," she said.

"I think it's really exciting what kind of individual access services will come out of this, because it's an area that needs more investment and focus," said Lisa Bari, CEO of Civitas Networks for Health.

"It's one thing to respond to a specific, one-off request," she continued. "It's another thing to have individual access services part of what anybody can access.