Epic Systems customers will all use TEFCA to exchange health records

Epic Systems, the health-care software giant whose technology is used in thousands of hospitals and clinics across the country, said on Friday that it’s planning on moving all of its customers to a new government-backed medical records exchange by the end of next year.

Epic is one of the groups that’s been helping the federal government establish the Trusted Exchange 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 is now to have the “full Epic community” live on the network by the end of 2025. All customers should be committed to the transition a year earlier, Epic said.   

Sending medical records between different hospitals, clinics and health-care 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 on their patients. Epic houses records for more than 280 million individuals in the U.S., though patients often have records across multiple vendors.  

There are also significant hurdles to accessing sensitive information due to the privacy protections surrounding patient data. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, is a federal law that requires a patient’s consent or knowledge for third-party access.

Several companies and organizations have formed to try and streamline health-care information exchange, but TEFCA was designed to help bring all the various players together. Because of Epic’s dramatic reach and its 45-year history on 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 on Friday that it’s working to align with TEFCA. Carequality includes Epic as a member. 

To join Carequality, organizations are vetted and have to agree to abide by clear “permitted purposes” for the exchange of patient records. For instance, the “treatment” permitted purpose means the doctor or hospital requesting the data is providing care to the patient in question.

Carequality found itself embroiled in controversy earlier this year after Epic said some network participants were requesting records for reasons that didn’t fall under the treatment purpose. Carequality said Friday that it’s revising its policy to align with TEFCA’s definition of treatment, which could help prevent such clashes in the future. 

“Carequality supports and encourages all appropriate and secure health information exchange, and to that end has engaged 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 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 that Carequality currently connects more than 70% of hospitals, along with over 50,000 clinics and more than 600,000 care providers.

“TEFCA is the nation’s best opportunity to get the remaining 30% of U.S. hospitals off the sidelines and reinforce trust between data exchange networks and care organizations,” Epic said.

WATCH: FDA’s push to lower sodium in food