ONC Outlines Key Outcomes for Trusted Exchange Framework in Kickoff Meeting

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), in its first meeting to establish a trusted exchange framework for health data, outlined three key outcomes that the agency feels is necessary for success. 

The 21st Century Cures Act calls for innovation in the seamless exchange of health information and lays out a path and timeline to develop or support a trusted exchange framework and common agreement to achieve full network to network exchange of health information. Cures also calls on ONC to advance that seamless exchange of health information.

The kickoff meeting on July 24 was the first of three and included more than 500 stakeholders joining in from across the country, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Don Rucker, M.D., Principal Deputy National Coordinator Genevieve Morris, and a number of panelists described the current state of trusted exchange between networks that support the flow of health information.  Panelists noted both successes and the many challenges that remain, according to an ONC blog post that reviewed the meeting. 

During the session, Rucker outlined three important outcomes for a trusted exchange framework, noted the blog post. First, patients can access their health information electronically without any special effort. Second, providers and organizations accountable for managing the health of populations can receive necessary and appropriate information on a group of individuals without having to access one record at a time, which would allow them to analyze population health trends, outcomes, and costs; identify at-risk populations; and track progress on quality improvement initiatives. Third, the health IT community should have open and accessible application programming interfaces to encourage entrepreneurial, user-focused innovation to make health information more accessible and to improve electronic health record (EHR) usability.

A 30-day public comment period is now open and comments will be accepted through August 25. After the comment period closes, two additional sessions will be scheduled later this year and ONC expects to release a draft Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement in 2018.