Premier comments on ONC’s Trusted Exchange Framework

Premier submitted comments in response to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC)’s Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA). 2018 will be the year of interoperability with a number of important new developments.

One is the TEFCA, which is intended to provide a “single on-ramp” to patient information and enable interoperability across disparate health information networks.  ONC has proposed a set of principles and focuses on policies, procedures, and technical standards on which Premier commented.

Premier’s comments focused on concerns that it:

• Does not adequately address certain issues (application programming interfaces (APIs), registries, certification and information blocking).
• Needs greater detail on different plan components and processes.
• Needs clarity on its interrelationship with existing federal programs (HIPAA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), 42 CFR 2 Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records, the Common Rule and other legal and regulatory requirements regarding privacy, access and security),
• Must clarify how it impacts providers.

Premier commentary