The state of health information organizations and plans to participate in the federal exchange framework

Abstract

Abstract In late 2023, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology launched the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) to enable nationwide health information exchange. Regional, local, and state health information organizations (HIOs) will be key components of nationwide exchange, and TEFCA could broaden HIOs' access to information. However, HIOs can choose whether to participate. We conducted a national survey of HIOs in 2023 to assess their plans to participate in TEFCA and broader measures of maturity. We identified 76 operational HIOs, down from 89 in 2019. These HIOs operated in 47 states and contained over 600 million patient records, indicating some duplication. Sixty-three percent of HIOs planned to participate in TEFCA, up 7 percentage points from 2019, and 32% of HIOs indicated that they did not know if they would participate. Health information organizations already engaged in exchange with other networks were more likely to plan to participate. The most common barrier (44%) was having not developed a strategic plan for TEFCA participation. While TEFCA appears to have successfully engaged the majority of HIOs, achieving nationwide exchange will require policy efforts to either attract the remaining HIOs or ensure that nonparticipating HIOs' providers have another option for TEFCA participation.