Resources

If you are interested in learning more about exchanging electronic health records, these resources may be helpful. These sites cover topics such as the technology behind records exchange, the necessary standards that an exchange must meet, and ways to test a system as it is being built.

Organizations

• The Sequoia Project
  The Sequoia Project is a non-profit, public-private partnership that operationally supports the eHealth Exchange (formerly referred to as the Nationwide Health Information Network Exchange).
• eHealth Exchange
  The eHealth Exchange ("Exchange") is a group of federal agencies and non-federal organizations that came together under a common mission and purpose to improve patient care, streamline disability benefit claims, and improve public health reporting through secure, trusted, and interoperable health information exchange.
• Carequality
  Carequality is a national level interoperability framework that enables exchanges between health information networks. Carequality brings together diverse groups including electronic health record vendors, record locator service providers, and other types of existing networks. It determines technical and policy agreements to enable data flow between networks, platforms, and geographies.
• Cerner
  Cerner is a leading provider of digital information systems used within hospitals and health systems. It enables medical professionals to deliver better healthcare to individual patients and communities.
• Veradigm
  The Veradigm Network is a dynamic, open community of partners delivering advanced, interconnected solutions to drive higher quality of care at lower cost.
• Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health information Technology
  The ONC coordinates a variety of programs to implement the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. It also supports the efforts of several related initiatives to facilitate nationwide adoption of Health IT. Information on Meaningful Use, Privacy and Security, Certification Programs, and Federal Advisory Committees is located on the ONC Health Information Technology site.

Standards and Specifications

• Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE)
  IHE promotes the coordinated use of established standards such as the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine and Health Level Seven International (HL7) to address specific clinical need in support of optimal patient care.
• Health Level 7
  HL7 is the global authority on standards for interoperability of health information technology with members in over 55 countries.
• eHealth Exchange Specifications
  Provides links to specifications currently in effect and revised specifications.
• Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP)
  The HITSP is a cooperative partnership between the public and private sectors. The Panel was formed for the purpose of harmonizing and integrating standards that will meet clinical and business needs for sharing information among organizations and systems.
• TEFCA
  The overall goal of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) is to establish a universal floor for interoperability across the country.
• United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI)
  The USCDI is a standardized set of health data classes and constituent data elements for nationwide, interoperable health information exchange. The USCDI sets a foundation for broader sharing of electronic health information to support patient care. Its first version (v1) is adopted as a standard in the ONC Cures Act Final Rule.