WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is increasing oversight of the nation’s electronic health information exchange network after the system surpassed 1 billion health records exchanged in less than a year, a milestone the agency says underscores growing demand for secure access to medical information.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology on Friday announced new measures to strengthen the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement, or TEFCA, a nationwide network designed to allow patients, healthcare providers and other authorized users to securely share electronic health records.
According to HHS, the number of health records exchanged through TEFCA has increased from 10 million to more than 1 billion in under a year.
The agency also awarded a new contract to bolster oversight of the network and verify that participating organizations comply with TEFCA’s policies and procedures. Federal officials are conducting additional reviews of Qualified Health Information Networks and their participants to ensure compliance with the framework’s operating requirements.
“Americans deserve secure, timely access to their health records,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. “We are strengthening TEFCA to put patients in control of their health information, improve care coordination, and ensure health data moves securely where it is needed.”
Federal officials said the expanded oversight effort will also target information blocking and potential fraud involving health data exchanges.
“As ONC identifies any behaviors on the network that are potentially civilly or criminally actionable, including information blocking and fraud, we will refer them to the appropriate Executive Branch agencies for investigation,” National Coordinator for Health IT Thomas Keane said in a statement.
HHS Chief Counselor and Director of the Center for Medicare Chris Klomp said the agency intends to use available regulatory and policy tools to address situations where patients are unable to access their health information.
The HHS Office for Civil Rights, which enforces federal health privacy laws under HIPAA, said individuals who believe they have been denied access to their health information or experienced a security violation may file a complaint with the agency.
Friday’s actions represent the latest federal effort to expand interoperability across the healthcare system while increasing scrutiny of how organizations share and protect patient data.
More information about ONC’s health information technology initiatives is available at www.healthit.gov.
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