Following last month's announcement that "now is not the time" for formal regulation of a proposed network of health information exchanges, HHS' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology said it is transitioning control of that network—known as the Nationwide Health Information Network—to a public-private partnership known as the eHealth Exchange.
According to an e-mailed news release, eHealth Exchange "represents ONC's commitment to support health information exchange innovation in the private sector." The partnership's operations will be supported by Healtheway (PDF), a Richmond, Va.-based not-for-profit organization also founded as a public-private partnership.
These operations include conformance and interoperability testing, on-boarding of new participants in eHealth Exchange, and maintenance of operating policies and procedures, the service registry and digital certificates, according to the release.
