Your Qualified Health Information Network® (QHINTM) or other connection point (such as your Individual Access Service (IAS) provider, local Health Information Exchange (HIE) or Electronic Health Record (EHR) vendor) is the best source of information for all Trusted Exchange Framework and Common AgreementTM (TEFCA®) Participants and Subparticipants with detailed technical or policy concerns. Below, the Recognized Coordinating Entity® (RCE®) maintains the current operational status of TEFCA as reported by QHINs.
Current Event Description:
Some QHINs, and their Participants, are reporting IAS query responses that do not contain clinical data due to an implementation issue with the responding QHIN. At the request of the impacted QHINs, the RCE has engaged all parties to diagnose, troubleshoot, and solve the technical challenge as soon as possible.
Participants and Subparticipants are encouraged to contact their QHIN for updates. We will update this page when the issue is resolved.
The RCE coordinates closely with the QHINs, TEFCA governing bodies, and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to monitor the operational status of the network. As the RCE is not a party to the health information exchange occurring via the framework, we depend on the QHINs to promptly report any service degradation or outage.
If you are experiencing an issue with your TEFCA connection, please contact your QHIN or other connection point (such as your IAS provider, local HIE, or EHR vendor). You may also choose to report a potential service degradation or outage to the RCE by email (tefcaoutagereporting@sequoiaproject.org) or the form below.
TEFCA went live in December 2023. You can see the list of Designated QHINs here: https://rce.sequoiaproject.org/designated-qhins/.
In order to be a Designated as a QHIN, a Health Information Network (HIN) must go through a rigorous Application and Onboarding and Designation process that ensures that they have the capabilities needed to serve in this crucial role.
Participants may include persons or entities that have entered into a contract to participate in a QHIN. Some examples of Participants could include, but are not limited to, a HIN, a health system, a health IT developer, a payer, or a federal agency.
See the Types of Entities That Can Be a Participant or Subparticipant in TEFCA SOP.
Subparticipants may include persons or entities that use the services of a Participant to send and receive EHI. For example, if a QHIN is composed of health information exchanges, the health information exchange would be the Participant, and those who use the health information exchange services, (such as health systems, ambulatory providers, health IT developers, payers, and others) are the subparticipants. Alternatively, a health IT developer could be a direct Participant of a QHIN, in which case, the Participant Members may be the provider practice that uses the health IT developer’s software or services.
See the Types of Entities That Can Be a Participant or Subparticipant in TEFCA SOP.
An Individual User represents an actual person who is the subject of the EHI, such as a patient, health plan member, or a patient representative. Individual Users may have a Direct Relationship with the QHIN, Participant, or Subparticipant, depending on the structure of the QHIN to which they belong, but they are not themselves considered Participants or Subparticipants.
