eHealth Exchange and C3HIE Announce QHIN Intentions

 eHealth Exchange, one of the nation’s oldest and largest health information networks, announced that C3HIE, a multi-regional health information exchange serving more than 128 counties across Texas, intends to partner with eHealth Exchange’s anticipated Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN) to participate in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC’s) Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA).

C3HIE’s joins the 11 health data networks operating in 15 states which have announced intentions to be among the first participants in eHealth Exchange’s anticipated QHIN, once eHealth Exchange completes onboarding and is selected by the Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) to serve as a QHIN.

The other pioneer network participants include Alabama One Health Record, Big Sky Care Connect, ConnectVirginia, the Consortium for State and Regional Interoperability’s five member health data networks (Contexture, CRISP, CyncHealth, Georgia Health Information Network, Indiana Health Information Exchange, Manifest MedEx, and Santa Cruz Health Information Organization.

“eHealth Exchange and C3HIE networks have collaborated for many years,” said Phil Beckett, PhD and CEO of C3HIE. “Joining eHealth Exchange’s anticipated QHIN aligns with C3HIE’s mission to provide our communities with the ability to efficiently and securely send and receive complete clinical information.”

eHealth Exchange’s 13 years of experience supporting large-scale health information exchange across a network of diverse participants makes it an ideal candidate QHIN. The network’s diverse participants include 61 regional and state health information exchanges (HIEs) and five federal agencies. eHealth Exchange supports exchange across more than 30 different electronic medical record technologies.

“We are thrilled C3HIE intends to partner with eHealth Exchange and be among the first to participate in TEFCA through our anticipated QHIN,” said Jay Nakashima, executive director of eHealth Exchange. “eHealth Exchange participants will be able to join our anticipated QHIN for no additional fees, as we aim to provide a seamless and accessible experience for organizations to participate in this federally endorsed framework for patient data sharing.”