The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), announced new oversight measures for the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), the national interoperability network designed to facilitate secure electronic exchange of health information. ONC has awarded a contract to enhance audit, review, and compliance functions and is conducting additional reviews of Qualified Health Information Networks (QHINs) and participating organizations to ensure adherence to TEFCA requirements. HHS also reported that TEFCA has grown from approximately 10 million exchanged health records to more than 1 billion records in less than one year.
