June 29, 2026- The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today announced new steps to strengthen the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement™ (TEFCA®), the nationwide network that helps patients and healthcare providers securely share electronic health information. To support the continued growth of TEFCA, ONC has awarded a new contract to strengthen oversight of the network and verify that organizations participating in TEFCA follow required policies and procedures. ONC is also conducting additional reviews of Qualified Health Information Networks® (QHINs™) and their participants to help ensure compliance with TEFCA’s rules and operating requirements. The TEFCA network has expanded rapidly. In less than one year, the number of health records exchanged through TEFCA has grown from 10 million to more than 1 billion.