Labcorp, one of the two leading national laboratory services companies along with Quest Diagnostics, has joined the CommonWell Health Alliance, which was designated as one of the Qualified Health Information Networks as part of the national Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA).
CommonWell said the addition of Labcorp to the network has become a key driver for building and deploying FHIR data sharing at scale for testing among members. While CommonWell has used FHIR document sharing for several years, the Labcorp partnership will promote FHIR interoperability and improve clinical laboratory data sharing.
In a recent interview with health innovation, Paul Wilder, CEO of CommonWell Health Alliance, explained why adding a laboratory organization like Labcorp will help drive the adoption of FHIR for sharing data elements instead of the document-centric approach that TEFCA is initially taking.
“It makes no sense to include laboratory data in a document. You know, a lab result, my A1C, in a 200-page document is meaningless. I always say it’s like taking out a mortgage. They ask me what my salary is and I hand them my tax forms. They only want line one,” he said. “We needed the use case. Everyone who was around the TEFCA table, all the QHINs, supported reaching the FHIR, but without breaking what we have now. But we know that is where we really want to go and this will make us get there faster.”
Labcorp is currently in the early stages of the implementation process and aims to become a fully operational services adopter by mid-2025.
“Joining the CommonWell Health Alliance Network will allow Labcorp to provide personalized healthcare information at the point of care, which represents an important step in our mission to improve health and improve lives,” said Shamyla Lando, senior vice president and chief technology officer. from Labcorp. , in a statement. “By improving care coordination and promoting value-based care, we strive to create a more equitable health care system where every patient receives high-quality, personalized care.”
The CommonWell Network enables the federated exchange of patient information among more than 36,000 provider sites, representing 238 million people in its national network. To date, it has facilitated the exchange of more than 7.7 billion health records.
