The namesake sign outside Epic's headquarters in Verona, Wisconsin.
Source: Yiem via Wikipedia CC
Epic Systems, the health care software giant whose technology is used in thousands of hospitals and clinics across the country, said Friday that it plans to move all of its customers to a new government-backed medical records-sharing system by the end of next year.
Epic is one of the groups that has been helping the federal government establish the Trusted Sharing Framework and Common Agreement, or TEFCA, to provide a legal and technical framework for securely sharing patient data.
TEFCA launched in December and Epic said the company's goal now is to have the “full Epic community” active on the network by the end of 2025. All customers would be required to commit to the transition a year early, Epic said.
Sending medical records between different hospitals, clinics, and healthcare organizations is notoriously complicated. Information is stored in a variety of formats across dozens of different vendors, making it difficult for doctors and other providers to access all the relevant data about their patients. Epic stores records for more than 280 million people in the U.S., though patients often have records across multiple vendors.
There are also significant barriers to accessing sensitive information due to privacy protections surrounding patient data. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law that requires patient consent or knowledge before third parties can access information.
Several companies and organizations have been created to try to streamline the exchange of healthcare information, but TEFCA was designed to help bring all the players together. Given Epic's broad reach and 45-year history in the market, the company's commitment to TEFCA will likely bolster the exchange's credibility.
In addition to Epic’s announcement, an interoperability network called Carequality also said Friday that it is working to align with TEFCA. Carequality includes Epic as a member.
To join Carequality, organizations must undergo an assessment and agree to meet clear “permissible purposes” for sharing patient records. For example, the permissible purpose of “treatment” means that the doctor or hospital requesting the data is providing care to the patient in question.
Carequality was embroiled in controversy earlier this year after Epic said some network participants were requesting records for reasons unrelated to the purpose of processing. Carequality said Friday that it is revising its policy to align it with TEFCA’s definition of processing, which could help prevent such conflicts in the future.
“Carequality supports and encourages all appropriate and secure exchange of health information and, to that end, has participated in the development of TEFCA and is actively supporting those participating in TEFCA or seeking to migrate to TEFCA,” Carequality said in a blog post on Friday.
Epic said it commends Carequality’s decision to align with TEFCA and use the same definition of treatment. The company will continue to help customers facilitate exchanges through Carequality as they transition to TEFCA, the statement said.
Epic said Carequality currently connects more than 70% of hospitals, along with more than 50,000 clinics and more than 600,000 care providers.
“TEFCA is the nation's best opportunity to bring the remaining 30% of American hospitals out of bankruptcy and strengthen trust between data-sharing networks and healthcare organizations,” Epic said.
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