‍Washington, DC – February 13, 2023 – Health Gorilla, a leading Health Information Network and interoperability provider, has become one of the first companies to have its application approved to become a Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN). The approval was announced by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra at a celebratory event in Washington D.C. 

Health Gorilla is hosting an informational webinar to provide more details on the QHIN application approval announcement on Wednesday, February 15, at 2 pm ET / 11 am PT. Click here to register.

In 2016, the 21st Century Cures Act called for the establishment of a Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) that specifies a floor for universal interoperability across the United States. Through the new network of federally designated QHINs, healthcare organizations will be able to easily connect and exchange health information securely on a nationwide basis. With the application approval, Health Gorilla successfully fulfilled the governance, functional, and operational requirements for operational approval to serve as a QHIN under TEFCA, moving forward in the process toward official designation later this year.

Once QHINs are fully implemented, Health Gorilla will act as a connectivity broker to enable nationwide data exchange for an expanding set of healthcare organizations, supporting permitted purposes such as Treatment and Individual Access Services to begin with, and future additional use cases such as Payment, Health Care Operations, Public Health, and Public Benefit Determination.

“Since Health Gorilla’s founding, I’ve been looking forward to a day when we could serve the nation as a true public-private bridge for health data exchange, leveraging interoperability as a means to achieve equity. That day is today,” said Steve Yaskin, CEO & Co-founder of Health Gorilla. “With the application approval, we can confidently march forward together to advance national health information sharing with the highest standards of patient privacy, data security, and network governance. We sincerely appreciate the collaboration with The Sequoia Project for running a smooth and diligent application process.”

“I’m absolutely thrilled about Health Gorilla’s approval towards becoming one of the first Qualified Health Information Networks,” said Steven Lane, MD MPH, Chief Medical Officer of Health Gorilla. “I’ve spent my career ensuring that nationwide interoperability could become a reality. With this announcement of approved QHIN applications, we’re taking a big leap forward. We look forward to entering the implementation process with the goal of achieving the first QHIN-to-QHIN exchange this year.”

“We see the QHIN announcement as a major milestone for the healthcare industry, creating federally protected highways for health data to flow,” said Chris Scoggins, Partner at SignalFire and Board Member of Health Gorilla. “The team at Health Gorilla has always put data security and privacy first, so I’m glad to see its recognition. As a Board member, I’m excited about the approval and what it means for healthcare delivery nationwide.”

The Health Data Interoperability Problem

Today, the average patient has health data spread across multiple hospitals, clinics, labs, pharmacies, and other entities, making it nearly impossible for providers to get and maintain a holistic view of a patient. The inability to easily access and share data between healthcare organizations results in higher costs, delayed and inconvenient care, as well as a higher risk of medical errors.

The lack of interoperability also creates inequity in the system, with patients of lower socioeconomic status or access to care less likely to gather and utilize their own health data. In addition, without interoperability, critical data like social determinants of health may not be easily accessible to providers, adversely affecting the patient’s care plan. 

Health Gorilla is helping to solve this problem by enabling the secure sharing of patient data to the providers who need it – including EHR data, pharmacy data, diagnostic data, and social determinants of health data. With the Health Gorilla platform, healthcare organizations have greater access to comprehensive patient data, enabling a more accurate view of the patient to power better care. 

QHIN Application Approval

Health Gorilla’s QHIN application was approved by The Sequoia Project, which was selected by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) to serve as the Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE). The RCE supports the implementation of TEFCA and determines the process and requirements for becoming a QHIN. The application approval allows Health Gorilla to proceed further through the QHIN designation timeline. When fully designated, individuals and healthcare organizations will be able to connect to Health Gorilla’s QHIN and exchange health information in compliance with TEFCA. 

Health Gorilla originally announced its intent to pursue QHIN designation in October 2021. For more information about Health Gorilla, visit healthgorilla.com. 

About Health Gorilla

Health Gorilla is a secure health data sharing platform, powering national health information exchange while protecting patient data privacy and security. Health Gorilla provides access to the broadest network of real-time healthcare data sources in the U.S., making it easy for authorized users to get a complete view of their patients. Through our collaborations with healthcare providers, insurers, and government organizations, we play a vital role in improving health outcomes, reducing administrative inefficiencies, and unlocking new business models. Health Gorilla is also one of the first applicants approved for onboarding to become a Qualified Health Information Network, successfully fulfilling the functional, operational, and governance requirements for application approval to serve as a QHIN under TEFCA. Our platform hosts innovative privacy technologies designed to safeguard health data and protect patient privacy. For more information, visit our home page at healthgorilla.com or follow us on LinkedIn and on Twitter @HealthGorilla.

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