“Information technology officials at the Department of Health and Human Services have a new system in the works that aims to merge individuals’ health information across multiple networks.”
“HHS’ Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement, or TEFCA, is a system that will allow health networks, including federally operated ones, to securely exchange medical data.”
“The end goal is to create a single point of access to all of an individuals’ health records.”
“The creation of TEFCA presents an opportunity for agencies to make their health information networks easier to use on the customer end, according to Micky Tripathi, the national coordinator for health IT at HHS.”
“Agencies such as the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense, along with the Social Security Administration, already use some online networks in an effort to consolidate information across multiple platforms. But, Tripathi said, TEFCA can help to more effectively combine that information.”
“’Every federal agency, certainly within the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the VA and the DOD, is exchanging information,’ Tripathi said during a webinar by FCW on Wednesday. ‘We think TEFCA can help them do that better, faster and cheaper than they’re able to today…'” Read the full article here.
Source: HHS aims to merge patient data across networks with new health IT system – By Drew Friedman, April 13, 2022. Federal News Network.
