Your health records are coming to new apps. Here's why

Health-care software vendor Epic Systems has announced that individuals in the U.S. will be able to release their health data to apps of their choice, giving them more direct control over their medical information. This move is a major technological leap for the health-care sector and reflects the beginning of a new standard for data-sharing practices. Epic has been helping the federal government establish requirements for sharing patients’ data at scale through the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA). TEFCA aims to address the issue of siloed and difficult-to-transfer health-care data in the country. Several Qualified Health Information Networks (QHINs), including Epic, are participating in TEFCA. The initiative is expected to bring revolutionary changes to health-data exchanges by allowing patients easy access to their own medical records.