Understanding where healthcare stands today in our journey toward seamless data exchange
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has released comprehensive data on hospital participation in health information networks, providing unprecedented visibility into how America’s healthcare institutions are approaching interoperability. This dataset, drawing from the American Hospital Association’s IT Supplement Survey (2022-2024), offers critical insights for organizations navigating the complex landscape of health information exchange.
Key Findings from Over 3,200 Hospitals
The data reveals participation patterns across four distinct categories of health information networks:
- Health Information Organizations (HIOs) continue to serve as the backbone of regional exchange, with hospitals participating in state, regional, and local networks that facilitate care coordination within their communities.
- National Networks including CommonWell Health Alliance, eHealth Exchange, and Carequality are enabling broader connectivity, allowing hospitals to exchange information beyond their immediate geographic boundaries.
- EHR Vendor Networks such as Epic’s Care Everywhere demonstrate how technology partnerships are creating pathways for information sharing within vendor ecosystems.
- TEFCA Participation represents the emerging frontier, with the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement launching in late 2023 as a nationwide interoperability framework designed to connect these various networks.
The TEFCA Opportunity
Perhaps most significant is the early adoption data for TEFCA. As a framework specifically designed to reduce the burden of joining multiple networks, TEFCA represents a critical evolution in healthcare interoperability. The data shows not just current participation but also planned participation, providing insight into the industry’s forward momentum toward unified exchange standards.
This distinction between current and planned participation is particularly valuable for organizations assessing their interoperability strategies. Understanding both where the market stands today and where it’s heading enables more informed decision-making about network participation and investment priorities.
Implications for Healthcare Networks
For organizations like ours at Velatura, this data underscores several important trends:
Network Fragmentation Remains a Challenge: The need for hospitals to participate in multiple types of networks—HIOs, national networks, vendor networks, and now TEFCA—highlights the ongoing complexity of achieving comprehensive interoperability.
Strategic Network Selection Becomes Critical: With limited resources and multiple options, healthcare organizations must make thoughtful choices about which networks will best serve their patient populations and operational goals.
TEFCA as a Potential Game-Changer: The framework’s promise to reduce network proliferation while maintaining comprehensive connectivity could significantly simplify the interoperability landscape if adoption reaches critical mass.
Looking Forward
This dataset provides more than just a snapshot—it offers a baseline for measuring progress toward the seamless health information exchange that patients deserve. The inclusion of linkage variables (AHA ID and CMS Certification Numbers) enables deeper analysis when combined with other healthcare datasets, opening opportunities for more nuanced understanding of how network participation correlates with care quality and operational efficiency.
As the healthcare industry continues to evolve toward value-based care models, the ability to access complete patient information across care settings becomes not just beneficial but essential. Organizations that can navigate this network landscape effectively—whether through strategic partnerships, technology investments, or participation in emerging frameworks like TEFCA—will be better positioned to deliver on the promise of coordinated, patient-centered care.
The data is clear: interoperability is no longer optional. The question is not whether to participate in health information networks, but how to participate most effectively in service of better patient outcomes.
For healthcare organizations seeking to optimize their interoperability strategies, understanding these participation patterns represents the first step toward building more connected, efficient care delivery systems.