Kate McMahon of HLN had the pleasure of attending the Sequoia Project Annual Meeting in Nashville, TN on December 11th, 2024. The meeting was well attended by a variety of healthcare systems and health IT professionals. While the various sessions highlighted how healthcare data interoperability has grown over the past decade, forging ahead with national models for data exchange such as TECFA (Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement), there was a common theme regarding strategies and methods for encouraging broad adoption of these frameworks while promoting usability by those consuming the data supplied.
During the Advancing Public Health Use Cases session, panelists made a case for promoting data sharing within the public health domain while recognizing the struggles public health agencies (PHAs) have experienced in the past. Limited, piecemeal funding sources and relatively lean workforces have historically impeded technological advancements in the PHA space. While the progression from faxed records and telephone notifications to electronic case reporting (eCR) has been transformative for epidemiologists, there continues to be a gap in providing the focused supporting documentation needed to complete comprehensive assessments. The hope is that by utilizing existing data exchange frameworks such as TECFA, all levels of PHAs will be able to have access to the healthcare data needed without having to manually track down information from multiple disparate systems.
At the center of the discussion was the Data Modernization Implementation Center Program, a CDC sponsored initiative which provides direct technical implementation services to PHAs through approved Implementation Centers. While frameworks such as TEFCA allow for more data to be transferred, this leads to a discussion on quality over quantity. As Chris Behm of CRISP Shared Services stated, “We’re moving much more data. I’m not convinced we’re moving more information.” He went on to explain that the technical framework can be in place to move data, but now discussions need to turn to data usability. Behm also spoke about how his organization, one of the three approved Implementation Centers, participates in TEFCA through their Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN) partner, eHealth Exchange. CRISP successfully onboarded three public health agencies, but a lack of actionable data was returned from queries to connected healthcare systems. So, while the technical frameworks are in place, there is a continued need for collaboration between all sectors of healthcare to shape routing of relevant data – streamlining processes and ultimately improving patient outcomes.
The Government Affairs Roundtable was also particularly insightful as participants discussed potential policy shifts under the incoming Trump administration. While the presentation remained optimistic, there was an acknowledgment of uncertainty with regards to the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and proposed deregulation in many sectors. Hopes were that since ASTP/ONC has only a single politically appointed position, TEFCA, which is recognized as a bipartisan supported initiative, would continue to be relatively unaffected by the upcoming administration. However, in the three months since the conference took place, the Trump administration and DOGE have made unprecedented changes, significantly affecting many federal initiatives and the federal civil servant labor force. As such, the extent to which existing healthcare technology policies and standards may be impacted in the near future is unclear.
HLN thanks The Sequoia Project for hosting such an informative session and looks forward to attending again in the future!