The news that an EHR vendor consortium is signing on to a new federal health information sharing effort is a huge step toward creating a national healthcare data exchange, an Oracle Cerner executive wrote in an Aug. 31 blog post.
CommonWell Health Alliance said Aug. 31 it plans to apply to become one of the first qualified health information networks as part of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement. TEFCA is part of the 21st Century Cures Act passed in 2016 that aims to establish a nationwide EHR exchange.
"The participation of CommonWell — which Cerner became a founding member nearly a decade ago — is a leap forward in achieving our vision for interoperability," wrote Sam Lambson, vice president of interoperability at Oracle Cerner. "Our shared goal is to build a nationwide health information exchange that will help give patients access to their healthcare data regardless of where they receive care."
The consortium also includes vendors such as Meditech, Athenahealth and eClinicalWorks.