ONC Releases Interoperability Frameworks

The 21st Century Cures Act directed the National Coordinator to "develop or support a trusted exchange framework, including a common agreement among health information networks nationally." Fulfilling that mandate, the Office of the National Coordinator ("ONC") for Health Information Technology released the "Trusted Exchange Framework and the Common Agreement" for health record interoperability. The two documents, titled "Trusted Exchange Framework, Common Agreement – Version 1" ("TEFCA"), and "Trusted Exchange Framework: Principles for Trusted Exchange" ("Principles") were published on January 18, 2022. The purpose of the Principles is to create a non-binding set of common principles for the exchange of health information and the TEFCA memorializes the technical infrastructure and governance for the different networks and their users to securely share information with each other – all under a common framework. By signing the TEFCA and adhering to the Principles,