We are now well past the 21 year mark in our quest for healthcare interoperability. Under an executive order from president G W Bush (April 2004), the ONC was established and Dr. David Brailer was dubbed “America’s first Health Information Czar.” The Meaningful Use program was then born out of the HITECH Act and Merit-Based Incentive Payment System out of the MACRA legislation. And then information sharing from the CURES Act. And then the release of Trusted Exchange Framework and the Common Agreement (TEFCA). And now the CMS Interoperability Framework. All trying to move our healthcare system to the digital age, better outcomes, controlling and reducing costs, and patient access to their health data. It has not been an easy road and the debate of the journey will never end.
Industry and Contract News
Trust Rooted in Collaboration: A Recap of the 2025 DirectTrust Annual Conference
DirectTrust hosted their annual conference this August in St. Louis, bringing together hundreds of health technology leaders to discuss, debate, and drive industry solutions. It was three days of connection, education, exploration, and collaboration around the Intersection of Interoperability, Identity, and Cybersecurity. Read this recap by Jordan Barrett and Dave Anderson.
ASTP Awards Next Option Year for TEFCA RCE Contract to The Sequoia Project
The Sequoia Project, a leading non-profit focused on advancing healthcare interoperability, announced it will continue its role as the Recognized Coordinating Entity® (RCE®) to support the implementation of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA). The non-profit was awarded the next option year under its existing contract to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP) and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).
Health Gorilla Participates in CMS Pledge Kickoff, Building Momentum for a Patient-Centric Health Technology Ecosystem
Health Gorilla, one of the first Qualified Health Information Networks (QHINs) under the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), announced its participation in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Pledge Kickoff. This event represents an important step in operationalizing the CMS-Aligned Network initiative for early adopters, building on the momentum of July’s White House Make Health Tech Great Again event.
KONZA Health Showcases Trusted Interoperability and Payer Innovation at eSolutions Xchange 2025
KONZA Health, a national nonprofit Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN), made a strong impression at this year’s eSolutions Xchange (ESX) 2025 Conference, highlighting its mission-driven role in helping payers and providers meet interoperability, quality, and compliance goals.
Netsmart Advances Decade-Long Commitment to Interoperability Through Qualified Health Information Network® (QHIN™) Designation
Netsmart, a pioneer in healthcare interoperability, announced that it has received designation as a Qualified Health Information Network® (QHIN™) under the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA™). Through this milestone, Netsmart continues its ongoing dedication to advancing interoperability strategies to facilitate an open exchange of longitudinal healthcare data─ benefitting individuals receiving care across the healthcare ecosystem.
Oracle Enhances Electronic Data Capture Solution to Streamline Clinical Trials and Help Bring New Therapies to Market Faster
Oracle introduced significant advancements to its Electronic Data Capture (EDC) solution, Oracle Clinical One Data Collection. These new capabilities enable seamless interoperability with Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, enhance data collection capabilities at trial sites, and provide end-to-end integration with Oracle Safety One Argus and other safety solutions. These updates are designed to simplify clinical workflows and eliminate data friction across systems to help accelerate research, improve safety reporting, and bring therapies to market faster.
AMA Advocacy Win: New Policies Boost Interoperability for Physicians
Thanks to years of American Medical Association (AMA) advocacy, physician practices will soon benefit from long-overdue federal reforms that make sharing patient data faster, easier, and more complete—without extra logins, endless clicking, or expensive add-ons. New federal interoperability agreements require all participating electronic health records (EHRs) to connect directly to national data-sharing networks approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. These systems must now deliver real-time, full patient information, including clinical notes, images, and medication lists that physicians actually use in care, rather than the basic data fields that are now available.
Spotlight on Community Networks
The Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI) and the Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative (SHIEC) announced a formal affiliation between the two organizations to form a new organization named Civitas Networks for Health. The organization serves as a platform for local nonprofit health collaboratives and health information exchanges to grow and thrive. Read their latest news. Follow them @civitas4health.
The Civitas 2025 Annual Conference is almost here! Join them in Anaheim, California, September 28–30, for one of the country’s premier gatherings for health care data leaders, innovators, and changemakers.
Just Announced: New Keynote Panel: They are thrilled to share an exciting addition to the main stage lineup: A Vision of One Health System, CMS-Aligned Networks, and What’s Next for Interoperability, Tuesday, September 30 | 8:15–9:15 a.m. PT | Platinum Main Stage. Leaders from the CDC, Innovaccer, HealthEx, MyHealth Access Network, and the CARIN Alliance will explore how health data networks can adapt and thrive in a shifting interoperability landscape, shaping a vision for a unified health system of the future. Browse the agenda.
State HIE News
Manifest MedEx’s 2024 Annual Report
In the seventh year of operations, Manifest MedEx has made immense progress in improving their value to participants through new partnerships, an expanded network, and continued commitment to improve care, enhance health, and lower costs. Manifest MedEx’s 2024 Annual Report, highlights key achievements and the impact our partnerships make in and across California communities.
DHIN and Availity Partner to Enhance Continuity of Care Document Usability
Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN), the first state’s Health Information Exchange (HIE), has partnered with Availity, the nation’s largest real-time health information network, to improve the quality and consistency of Continuity of Care Documents (CCDs) shared across DHIN’s network.
Hires and Openings
eHealth Exchange
Active in all 50 states, the eHealth Exchange is the largest query-based, health information network in the country. It is the principal network that connects federal agencies and non-federal organizations, allowing them to work together to improve patient care and public health. They have an open positions for:
Contexture
Contexture is a nonprofit organization that provides strategic, technical and administrative support to communities committed to advancing health through information sharing. As the leading health information exchange for Arizona and Colorado, Contexture is the largest health information organization in the western region. Check out their current openings.
Delaware Health Information Network
Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) is currently seeking a Project Manager Analyst. Specifically, the Project Manager plays a critical role by serving as the lead for project work for all assigned project initiatives and will integrate with all DHIN teams, DHIN stakeholders and technology vendors. Projects are typically IT integration but are shifting towards projects requiring software development and customization. The PM has no positional authority and must be able to create and sustain cooperative voluntary relationships between the project participants.
North Carolina Department of Information Technology
The NC Health Information Exchange Authority (NC HIEA) is seeking its next mission-driven, highly motivated and detail-oriented data quality team lead. The Data Quality and Integrity Team Lead (DQIL) will be the in-house data expert, comfortable working with data and business processes to enable new and innovative use cases for NC HealthConnex, the state-designated health information exchange, as well as enhance the overall experience for NC HIEA participants across external NC HealthConnex services.
VITL
VITL is passionate about improving health care for Vermonters. They are a mission-driven nonprofit that connects health care data across the state. VITL is where the health care and technology sectors meet. Their network facilitates the secure exchange of real-time information and makes it possible for providers to get the information they need to provide excellent health care for Vermonters. They have the following openings:
- HL7 Interoperability Engineer
- Business Analyst – Health Information Exchange (HIE) Platform Upgrade
Upcoming Events
Civitas Networks for Health
When: Thursday, September 18, 2025 3:00 pm ET
Where: Virtual
Register for this event.
Thinking About Data Differently: Benefits of Sharing Health Data During Emergencies presented by PointClickCare – There are existing routine health data that could be beneficial to use during disasters to help fill in data gaps. This presentation will walk through different examples of how such existing data could be used, as well as opportunities that could be considered in the future for additional data gaps. This session will also address opportunities for improving ease of use to query for data, to include processes for gathering demographics for patient records queries and utilizing Single Sign-On (SSO) amongst first responders for improved login and credentialing.
Data Usability Virtual Workshop
When: Tuesday, September 23, 2025 10:00am – 5:00pm ET
Where: Virtual
Event Page
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Driving Better Outcomes by Improving Usability of Clinical Data – The Sequoia Project, a non-profit and trusted advocate for nationwide health IT interoperability, in partnership with the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), is releasing the full agenda of its Data Usability Workshop. This event will bring together healthcare industry professionals–including informaticists, health IT developers, data stewards, and interoperability advocates–to learn actionable strategies for enhancing clinical data usability. Attendees will gain insights into how the Interoperability Matters Data Usability Workgroup Implementation Guide Version (DUIG) 2.0 drives semantic interoperability and improves data quality and how they can enable adoption of guidance through a community of practice.
eClinical Works 2025 National Conference
When: September 26-28, 2025
Where: Orlando, FL
Event Page
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Event hashtag: #eCWNC25
Taking a Stand for Excellence – Join them at the 2025 eClinicalWorks and healow National Conference, at the extraordinary Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida. This event will showcase innovative healthcare IT solutions from eClinicalWorks and healow and put the spotlight on how artificial intelligence is changing the game in healthcare.
See how AI-driven tools can help your practice reduce no-shows, boost your bottom line, improve patient satisfaction, and support better health outcomes. Immerse yourself in keynote sessions and interactive workshops and take advantage of unparalleled networking opportunities. Don’t miss this chance to discover insights and strategies for taking your practice to new heights. Reserve your spot today.
Civitas 2025 Annual Conference
When: September 28-30, 2025
Where: Anaheim, CA
Event Page
Register for this event
Event hashtag: #Civitas2025
Bridging Data and Doing – Civitas’ Annual Conference brings together hundreds of passionate industry leaders, decision-makers, implementers, and innovators to discuss interoperability, data-driven quality improvement, social determinants of health, public health, multi-stakeholder and community-led governance, and health outcomes. Civitas’ members serve as the bridge between “data” and “doing” in health and health care. Attendees choose the conference to foster deep connections, strengthen and build new partnerships, and leave with tangible ways to evolve their national, state, regional, and local initiatives.
eHealth Exchange 2025 Annual Meeting
When: November 18, 2025
Where: Nashville, TN
Event Page
Register for this event.
Event hashtag: #eHx25
eHealth Exchange is pleased to host their 2025 in-person Annual Meeting this November in Nashville, Tennessee, the home of country music, bluegrass, R&B and other genres. This annual event is a must-attend gathering of health IT interoperability experts.
It is expected to draw more than 150 attendees including public health and federal agencies, health systems, physicians, regional and state health information exchanges, payers, as well as their eHealth Exchange Validated Vendors who support them. While their Annual Meeting is widely attended by eHealth Exchange participants, all are welcome!
ONC's Cures Act Final Rule
In May of 2020 the 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program released by the ONC and published in the Federal Register.
The TEFCA Players
ONC Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE)
The Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) – The Sequoia Project (@sequoiaproject)is responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining the Common Agreement component of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA). The Common Agreement is the baseline technical and legal requirements for health information networks to share electronic health information and is part of the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act).
In addition they will collaborate with ONC to designate and monitor Qualified Health Information Networks (QHIN), modify and update an accompanying QHIN Technical Framework, engage with stakeholders through virtual public listening sessions, adjudicate noncompliance with the Common Agreement, and propose sustainability strategies to support TEFCA beyond the cooperative agreement’s period of performance.
On August 28, 2023, the ONC awarded The Sequoia Project 5-Year TEFCA RCE Contract to continue their services.
RCE Resource Library – which includes a guide to the Common Agreement, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), technical documents, and other resources that make up TEFCA’s rules of the road. Start your journey to next generation interoperability here.
The Sequoia Project Addresses Health Data Information Sharing with Educational Toolkit – The Sequoia Project released an informational and educational toolkit to support providers, health IT developers, health information networks and exchanges, and the greater healthcare community’s commitment to compliance with the federal Information Blocking Rule (IBR).
The Sequoia Project Releases Data Usability Guide Version 2.0 – The Sequoia Project announced the release of the Data Usability Implementation Guide Version 2.0 created by its Interoperability Matters Data Usability Workgroup (DUWG). This resource covers the identified priority use cases that can be readily adopted within health information exchange vendors, implementers, networks, governance frameworks, and testing programs within 18 months.
The Sequoia Project Publishes State of Consent Capabilities – The Sequoia Project published Moving Toward Computable Consent: A Landscape Review for public feedback. This whitepaper explains the importance of managing privacy and consent when sharing personal health information, scans the current landscape of challenges facing those entrusted with personal health information, enumerates existing solutions, and explores the strengths and deficiencies of these approaches.
Designated QHINs as of February 2024
Candidate QHINs
Organizations that have completed the Qualified Health Information Network® (QHIN™) application and have been accepted into the project planning and testing phase of the on boarding and designation process.
Interoperability Market
According to research by Grand View Research, the global healthcare interoperability solutions market size was estimated at USD 3.42 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.15% from 2024 to 2030. An increase in the adoption of interoperability solutions by healthcare authorities, a rise in investments to enhance healthcare facilities, favorable government initiatives to improve patient care, high government funding, and a focus on patient-centric care are some major factors propelling the market growth. In February 2023, the federal government provided USD 505 million to federal data partners and Canada Health Infoway to advance digital health tools and an interoperability roadmap. Thus, the rising investments and funding from government bodies are anticipated to drive the industry growth.