Surescripts Health Information Network Submits Application to Become a Qualified Health Information Network

Surescripts leads nationwide interoperability, connecting more than 2 million care providers with virtually every American patient, supporting better informed care

Arlington, Va. – November 13, 2023 – Surescripts®, the nation’s leading health information network, has applied to become a Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN), through its subsidiary Surescripts Health Information Network LLC™, furthering its commitment to the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) and advancing interoperability to benefit all participants in the Surescripts Network Alliance and the patients they serve.

“Surescripts is delivering interoperability that empowers clinicians, alleviating some of the most frustrating burdens they face today,” said Frank Harvey, Chief Executive Officer of Surescripts. “Interoperability means helping clinicians to close gaps in patient information, improve safety and support less costly care. Most importantly, interoperability means stronger, trusted relationships between patients and care providers.”

“Applying to become a QHIN is an important next step that illustrates Surescripts ongoing commitment to advancing interoperability across the healthcare industry. We look forward to working with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, The Sequoia Project and all Network Alliance participants to ensure patients have access to quality, safe and less costly care no matter where they live and providers are able to give that care to their patients in the most meaningful way possible,” said Harvey.

Watch: Justin McMartin, product manager at Surescripts, shares what becoming a QHIN will mean for Surescripts Network Alliance partners and the patients they serve.

Surescripts established electronic prescribing nation-wide two decades ago, revolutionizing healthcare. Today, Surescripts has evolved to deliver nationwide interoperability at scale with more than 21.7 billion transactions in 2022, bringing patient-specific benefit and clinical information to the fingertips of more than 2 million care providers, covering virtually every American patient.

In practice, interoperability means delivering clinicians 2.5 billion medication histories and 1.25 billion links to clinical documents at the point of care in 2022, through the Surescripts network.

The Surescripts Network Alliance® includes nearly all electronic health records (EHR) vendors, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacies and clinicians, plus health plans, long-term and post-acute care organizations, patient access vendors and specialty pharmacy organizations.

Background:

In April, Surescripts announced its intent to become a QHIN under TEFCA in support of advancing nationwide interoperability of electronic health information, as laid out in the 21st Century Cures Act. Surescripts has moved forward in the process of becoming a QHIN by Surescripts Health Information Network LLC submitting its application for review by The Sequoia Project, the Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) designated by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).

Surescripts was a member of the Common Agreement Workgroup and worked alongside The Sequoia Project and ONC to draft the Common Agreement that established the infrastructure model and governing approach for securely sharing basic clinical information between networks.

Additionally, Surescripts technology, including Surescripts Record Locator & Exchange, is based on the HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard that helps clinicians find and retrieve clinical documents exchanged via Carequality—a nationwide, consensus-based interoperability framework that enables information exchange among health data sharing networks.

Surescripts has been a leader in the adoption of the FHIR standard, participating in HL7 accelerators, including the Argonaut Project, the DaVinci Project and FAST, aiming to meet the interoperability goals in the 21st Century Cures Act.