Following is the statement from the EHR Association on the Dec. 11, 2024 publication by ASTP/ONC of the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (HTI-2) Final Rule, which will publish in the Federal Register on Dec. 16, 2024. The scaled-based rule finalizes certain proposals related to the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA). It also amends the information blocking regulations by including definitions related to the TEFCA Manner Exception and implements provisions to support the reliability, privacy, security, and trust within TEFCA.

“This first rule finalizing parts of the HTI-2 proposals was released on December 11, 2024, and the focus on TEFCA allows ASTP to solidify pillars of that program that outgoing leadership wants to leave as a legacy. We expect the remaining components of the HTI-2 proposed rule to be split into multiple other final rules. In doing so, the EHR Association hopes that ASTP/ONC will prioritize the necessary additional technical corrections specific to health IT vendors, the most urgent of which relate to Insights Measures. As currently drafted, the Insights Measures are likely to produce data of questionable value – something we have been stressing to ASTP since publication of the HTI-1 proposed rule in 2023. As we inch closer to the January 1, 2026, start date, the uncertainty of finalized measurements creates challenges. We hope that future rules finalizing HTI-2 proposals will include helpful and necessary clarifications.”