Nearly 30 years ago, one of my first cover stories for Health Data Management (back in those magazine days) was on the potential role of community health information networks. It’s almost hard to imagine the challenges of those early efforts – and, if I recall correctly, the cost. In a fledgling effort in Chicago, for example, the price tag for connecting to that CHIN was multiple thousands of dollars.

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Most of those early efforts struggled and failed. The dream of easily exchanging health information hasn’t faded, however. Progress is inexorably occurring, with the latest promised big advance is the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement. It’s taken technology advancing light years, the Internet becoming ubiquitous, standards finally taking hold, multiple “carrots,” some “sticks” and fed agencies ramping up the pressure – but all the cultivation of the land seems ready to make a difference.

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Information exchange, done well, will provide big benefits for where healthcare is now. There’s rising awareness of the importance of patient engagement, risk sharing agreements, the high value of data connectedness, the need to achieve efficiency to assist clinicians and avoid burnout. Information sharing is at a crucial nexus, and TEFCA and related initiatives will be the next major step forward.

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• Fred Bazzoli, Editor in Chief

As you dive into this COVERstory, you'll learn:

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• 1. Where TEFCA stands today, and whether the initiative is on track for the remainder of this year.
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• 2.How TEFCA and QHINs fit into current healthcare trends, and what it seeks to achieve.
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• 3. How healthcare organizations need to adapt to and prepare for this new era of information sharing.  
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• 4. What challenges and questions remain for TEFCA and federal agencies.  
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• 5. How new organizations are forming to enable deeper levels of healthcare data and sharing.
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Read more:

• • Striking a balance: HDUs as the future of data privacy, Nichole Sweeney
• • Health data utilities offer chance to protect privacy, Nichole Sweeney & Marc Rabner
• • How HDUs enable better public health by bridging the data divide, Marc Rabner
• • Data quality standards are key for HIEs to achieve long-term success, Renee Towne

Read more:

• • Rethinking data silos in healthcare: From isolation to integration, Sriram Devarakonda
• • Navigating the complex interplay between data, technology and leadership, Mitchell Josephson

Read more:

• • Navigating privacy, interoperability in the proposed HIPAA modifications, Eden Avraham-Katz
• • Improving the balance between data exchange and privacy, Steve Yaskin
• • Why there's a growing urgency for patient-centric data exchange, Mike Arce