Much Anticipated Draft Common Agreement Version 2 and Other Materials Released for Feedback

VIENNA, Va., Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement^SM (TEFCA^SM) Recognized Coordinating Entity^® (RCE™), The Sequoia Project, released a bundle of new draft TEFCA materials to support greater use of HL7 FHIR^® and make other improvements to the framework. Stakeholders have through February 5 to provide feedback online. In addition to the materials released for review and feedback, the RCE will host a series of three webinars to provide additional opportunities for education, review, and feedback.

“When TEFCA went live in December, the Qualified Health Information Networks™ (QHINs™) countersigned the Common Agreement v1.1 at an event at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,” said Mariann Yeager, CEO of The Sequoia Project and RCE lead. “At that time, we were already hard at work, in collaboration with the QHINs, on Common Agreement v2 to ensure swift implementation of the FHIR^® Roadmap for TEFCA Exchange v2.”

The TEFCA draft documents released today for a 14-day stakeholder feedback period include:

• Common Agreement v2
• QHIN Technical Framework v2 (QTF v2)
• Participant/Subparticipant Terms of Participation
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs):
  • Delegation of Authority
  • Exchange Purposes (XPs)
  • Exchange Purpose (XP) Implementation SOP: Health Care Operations SubXP-1
  • Exchange Purpose (XP) Implementation SOP: Individual Access Services (IAS): Demographic Matched
  • Exchange Purpose (XP) Implementation SOP: Public Health SubXP-1
  • Expectations for Cooperation
  • Governance Approach
  • Individual Access Services (IAS) Provider Requirements
  • RCE Directory Service Requirements Policy
    

In addition to draft policy and technical documents, the RCE released today several resources to support stakeholders in understanding TEFCA. The RCE is seeking feedback on the following draft materials:

• Public Health Exchange Purpose Educational Guidance: a resource for the public health community
• TEFCA Glossary: a compendium of all proposed defined terms from across the Common Agreement, QTF, and official TEFCA documents.
• TEFCA Cross Reference Resource: a chart that maps the applicable SOPs to the sections referencing them in the Common Agreement and the Participant/Subparticipant Terms of Participation.
  

The RCE will thoroughly review all feedback received via the webinars and online feedback forms for each document. While these drafts are published for feedback until February 5, the community is encouraged to submit comments all year long on the RCE website’s general feedback form.

The next evolution of TEFCA will be the publication of the final Common Agreement v2 and today’s other draft materials for adoption and implementation by the QHINs and their network Participants and Subparticipants, anticipated to happen in March 2024.

All TEFCA resources can be found on the RCE website.

About The Sequoia Project

The Sequoia Project is a non-profit, 501c3, public-private collaborative chartered to advance implementation of secure, interoperable nationwide health information exchange. The Sequoia Project focuses on solving real-world interoperability challenges and brings together public and private stakeholders in forums like the Interoperability Matters cooperative to overcome barriers. The Sequoia Project is also the Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), for which it developed, updates, implements, and maintains the Common Agreement component of TEFCA and operationalizes the Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN) designation and monitoring process. For more information about The Sequoia Project and its initiatives, visit www.sequoiaproject.org. Follow The Sequoia Project on Twitter: @SequoiaProject.