It will soon be much easier for patients within the United States to access their very own medical records.
Healthcare software provider Epic Systems announced Thursday that individuals will now find a way to securely share their health data with the apps they select, giving them more direct control over their medical information than ever before.
For example, if patients use a health coaching app or an app that reminds them to take their medications, they will import their records directly into those platforms using only the credentials they use to log into Epic.
This seemingly easy feat actually represents a big technological leap for the healthcare sector and marks the start of a brand new standard in data sharing that can take shape across the country.
Epic is considered one of the organizations that helped the federal government construct the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA). Launched in December, the agreement goals to create each the legal and technical conditions for large-scale sharing of patient data.
Health data within the U.S. has traditionally been siloed and difficult to transfer. Clinics, hospitals and health systems may store their information in several formats with dozens of various vendors, and there was no trusted nationwide mechanism for transporting the information securely. This signifies that patients who move to a different state or visit a brand new hospital may not at all times find a way to take their medical records with them.
In the private sector, several firms and data sharing networks have emerged to deal with this problem, but none of them has managed to totally solve it on their very own. TEFCA was designed to bring all these different actors together.
TEFCA falls under the purview of an office inside the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Patients can take into consideration TEFCA the identical way they give thought to their mobile phone use, said Micky Tripathi, assistant secretary for technology policy and national coordinator for health information technology on the Department of Health and Human Services.
If one person uses Verizon as their phone provider, a second person uses AT&T, and a 3rd person uses T-Mobile, they will all still call and text one another. The same goes for TEFCA.
“The idea was, 'We should just have the user experience that no matter where I am, no matter what system I'm using, I know it's going to connect to any other network, no matter what network I'm on,'” Tripathi said in an interview with CNBC.
“It will be revolutionary”
The major groups participating in health data sharing through TEFCA are so-called qualified health information networks (QHINs). These networks participate voluntarily – they receive no money – and must undergo a two-step approval process to make sure they’re eligible and have the mandatory technical infrastructure in place.
Seven QHINs, including Epic, are actually lively on TEFCA, and Tripathi said several more are nearing the finish line. To illustrate the dimensions that TEFCA requires, Tripathi estimated that Epic's own network facilitates greater than 10 to 12 million data transactions every day.
“Remember, this is about connecting networks that already exist and work,” he said.
To take part in TEFCA, QHINs must support six different “exchange purposes” for which a company may request health information. These purposes include treatment, payment, health care operations, public health, government profit determination, and individual access services.
Most exchange networks have to date supported the exchange of “treatment,” meaning that the recipient, reminiscent of a physician or hospital, provides medical care to the person whose records they’re requesting. However, by introducing other approved exchange routes, TEFCA may find a way to avoid some disagreements, reminiscent of those who have arisen this yr over what exactly counts as treatment.
Individual access services, for instance, are a brand new exchange purpose that permits people to simply request all their records and convey them together in a single app. This means patients can see their complete history of doctor visits and hospital stays without delay, so long as all of the mandatory providers are connected to TEFCA.
“I think it's going to be revolutionary in the next few years,” Steve Yaskin, CEO of Health Gorilla, a QHIN inside TEFCA, told CNBC. “If you look at any other industry, they're using data to their advantage, right? From banking to telecoms to any industry that's deeply rooted in understanding data.”
Because TEFCA is so recent, many QHINs are still working on organising all six exchange purposes. Epic's announcement on Thursday means they’re officially able to support the person access service path.
Rob Klootwyk, Epic's director of interoperability, said implementing individual access has taken time since it must be done rigorously. He said TEFCA must set guardrails that specify how patients are authenticated, how they might be educated about whether or not they should share their data with an app, and the way apps might be held accountable to consumers.
These questions have now been answered, he said.
“We and our community believe that the pieces are now in place and TEFCA is the right way to do this,” Klootwyk said in an interview with CNBC.
For example, when a patient enters their Epic credentials to share their data with an app, they'll be presented with a screen of patient information, said Matt Doyle, a software engineer on Epic's interoperability team. The screens explain what information the patient could be sharing and ensure they're comfortable with that call.
Patient data is inherently sensitive and invaluable and is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a federal law that requires patient consent or knowledge for third-party access. While some apps are required to be HIPAA compliant, many are usually not.
As a result, HHS ruled that apps can voluntarily take part in TEFCA so long as they conform to comply with HIPAA, even in the event that they are usually not legally required to accomplish that. This means QHINs like Epic can inform users whether an app is a HIPAA-covered entity, whether it's a part of the federally recognized data-sharing network, or not one of the above.
“We say, 'Hey, we're not saying they're a bad group, we just don't know their policies on this. You want to make sure you're well informed before you decide to share this,'” Doyle told CNBC.
Whether individuals need to use apps to support their care or just want a straightforward place to view their information, TEFCA essentially goals to supply the muse of trust needed to accomplish that, Klootwyk said.
It will take about two weeks for the brand new features to develop into available to Epic customers, but it’s going to likely take longer for individual access services to be widely used nationwide.
HHS's Tripathi said the TEFCA framework is now in place and all that's left is for QHINs and the broader market to get on board.
“This is the next really important step for a patient to be able to access their own information through an application of their choice and thus participate more directly in their own healthcare,” Tripathi said.
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