This article was updated on June 2, 2025, with additional comments from Matt Doyle, Epic's interoperability software development lead.
Epic Systems announced on Monday it has reached what it's calling a milestone in interoperability: a significant and growing number of hospitals and clinics exchanging health data across its TEFCA Qualified Health Information Network.
WHY IT MATTERS
The Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement, established to fulfill health data exchange requirements in the 21st Century Cures Act, can help to ensure that any medical provider can participate in nationwide patient data exchange.
TEFCA standardizes the secure exchange of critical health information at the point of care.
Approved QHINs under the nationwide framework can lower historic barriers to data interoperability that many health systems, especially those in rural and underserved communities, have acutely faced, Epic said in its announcement on Monday.
"TEFCA exchange extends the integrated interoperability that our patients and providers have come to expect over the past decade or more," Dr. Matthew Eisenberg, associate chief medical information officer at Stanford Healthcare, said in a statement about the Epic QHIN onboarding 1,000 hospitals and thousands of clinics to exchange data.
"When we have the patient’s full story at the point of care, we can provide better-informed diagnoses, fewer duplicate tests and better care plans and outcomes in support of the healthcare quadruple aim."
With access to their health data at the POC, patients can also take an active role in their care, Rob Klootwyk, Epic's director of interoperability, added.
THE LARGER TREND
Epic initially joined TEFCA in 2022, then announced that 24 health systems, including Stanford, were the first to join its QHIN, which went live at the end of the following year.
Doyle told Healthcare IT News during the development process that the company was focused on making TEFCA access to its EHR provider customers quick and easy. At the time, Epic was closing 25 million care gaps with data exchange, but TEFCA has vastly increased that metric.
"Over the past year, our customers have closed 316 million care gaps using interoperable data, which means they can avoid duplicative care and focus limited healthcare resources on patients who truly need outreach," Doyle said by email.
Contributing to the increase, the Carequality health information network Epic has participated in since it launched over a decade ago, announced last year that it too would align its health data exchange strategy with TEFCA.
"This progress is a direct result of making it easier than ever for providers to access the information they need -- whether through Carequality, TEFCA or other exchange methods," he said. "The rise in volume shows that national networks like TEFCA are making a meaningful impact."
The company's goal has been to secure commitments and transition all Epic EHR users to data exchange via Nexus by the end of this year.
"As of now, 41% are live, 43% are implementing and the remaining 16% are in the planning stages," Doyle said, noting that app-driven exchange via individual access services is expected to grow now that the first wave of IAS applications has gone live.
"TEFCA gives these apps a single on-ramp to connect with all participating providers, making it easier for patients to access their health information -- no matter where they received care -- and stay actively engaged in their health," he added.
ON THE RECORD
"The energy around TEFCA adoption is clear, and the Epic community is leading the way," Klootwyk said in a statement.
"I’m thrilled to see so many provider organizations joining this effort," Eisenberg added.
Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
