?? Edition 11 ??

What’s In This Edition:

Insight Spotlight: TEFCA Unlocks Interoperability: How Healthcare Software Can Use TEFCA to Connect to Customers

Innovator's Radar: Healthcare venture activity remains strong as multiple companies secure significant funding, with Redesign Health leading the pack by raising $175 million to incubate new healthcare startups

Decoding Digital Health: Congress reaches deal to extend Medicare telehealth flexibilities for two years and hospital-at-home program for five years, while providing a 2.5% physician payment boost to offset previously announced cuts

Hot Topics: Epic has connected 625 hospitals to TEFCA in its first year of participation, marking significant progress toward nationwide healthcare interoperability with plans to connect all its customers by the end of 2025

Data Dive: Healthcare organizations nearly doubled their IT budgets in 2024, focusing on clinical workflow automation, cybersecurity, and in-house telehealth solutions, according to CHIME and KLAS Research's annual Digital Health Most Wired survey

TEFCA emerges as a transformative solution for healthcare software integration, offering a standardized approach to replace traditional point-to-point integration models.

• Enables "connect once, reach everyone" approach through Qualified Health Information Networks (QHINs)
• Reduces implementation times from months to weeks
• Four main access pathways: BAA-based, Purpose of Use-based, Treatment, and Healthcare Operations
• Expected widespread adoption by late 2025-2026

Why it matters:

This change could dramatically reduce implementation costs, accelerate sales cycles, and free up engineering resources for innovation. Early adopters building expertise now could gain significant competitive advantages as the network grows, potentially transforming how healthcare software scales and connects with customers. The success of TEFCA could remove major barriers to healthcare technology adoption and innovation.

Here is the latest roundup of digital health financing rounds:

• Redesign Health raises $175 million fund to launch innovative healthcare companies out of the venture builder
• Tuva Health raises $5M in seed funding with first-of-its-kind open-source platform
• Hyro AI, a healthcare-focused no-code platform for automating patient communications, secured $35 million in series B extension funding led by Healthier Capital
• Sirona Medical picks up $42M to scale up cloud-native radiology IT platform
• TailorMed secures $40M for patient financial assistance platform
• Alloy Women's Health lands $16M for menopause care

Congress nears deal on end-of-year healthcare package, including significant extensions for telehealth and hospital-at-home programs.

Key provisions:

• Two-year extension of Medicare telehealth flexibilities
• Two-year extension of telehealth coverage for high-deductible health plans
• Five-year extension of hospital-at-home waiver program
• 2.5% Medicare physician payment boost for one year
• Multiple healthcare program reauthorizations

Why it matters:

This legislative package represents a crucial commitment to maintaining pandemic-era healthcare innovations, particularly in telehealth and home-based care. The extended flexibilities and payment adjustments could help ensure continued access to virtual care services while supporting healthcare providers' financial stability. The bipartisan support for these extensions signals growing recognition of telehealth's permanent role in healthcare delivery.

Epic announces significant progress in connecting hospitals to TEFCA, marking one year since joining the national interoperability framework.

Key metrics:

• 625 hospitals connected in 12 months
• All Epic customers expected to connect by end of 2025
• Six approved QHINs including Epic, eHealth Exchange, CommonWell, Health Gorilla, Kno2, and KONZA

Major developments:

• First cohort included major systems like Mount Sinai, Mayo Clinic, Kaiser, Johns Hopkins
• Addresses gap where 30% of U.S. hospitals couldn't exchange electronic health information
• Builds on Epic's existing interoperability networks and Carequality partnership

Why it matters:?

TEFCA's implementation through major EHR vendors like Epic represents a crucial step toward universal health information exchange, particularly benefiting rural and underserved communities. The rapid adoption by hundreds of hospitals suggests growing momentum for nationwide healthcare interoperability.

The CHIME and KLAS Research Digital Health Most Wired survey reveals healthcare IT budgets nearly doubled in 2024 amid accelerating digital transformation.

Key findings:

• Significant investment in clinical workflow automation and voice recognition systems
• Growing interoperability across community partners, especially through TEFCA and QHINs
• Enhanced focus on cybersecurity with dedicated executives and AI-powered solutions
• Increased adoption of real-time dashboards and data visualization tools
• Shift from third-party to in-house telehealth management
• Evolution in patient portal usage, particularly for financial services

Why it matters:

The substantial increase in health IT investments and widespread adoption of digital tools signals healthcare's committed transition to technology-driven care delivery. This transformation, spanning clinical workflows, cybersecurity, and patient engagement, suggests a fundamental shift in how healthcare organizations operate and deliver care, with a growing emphasis on data-driven decision making and enhanced patient experience.

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That's all for this edition!?

The Topflight Team