Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) Cooperative Agreement

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology funds Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) Cooperative Agreements under CFDA 93.347 to establish nationwide interoperable health information exchange, with the most recent grant award issued on August 29, 2019.

The program supports a single organization to develop, implement, and maintain the Common Agreement component of the Trusted Exchange Framework (TEF), working with the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) to enable secure, nationwide electronic health information exchange across qualified health information networks. The RCE role encompasses identifying and monitoring QHINs that meet technical and compliance standards, updating the QHIN Technical Framework, conducting public stakeholder engagement, adjudicating noncompliance, and proposing sustainability strategies for trusted data exchange.

This program operates as a Cooperative Agreement exclusively; the single award in the portfolio reflects the focused, sole-source nature of the RCE function. The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology provided $6.4 million in federal dollars obligated across one award.

The most recent and only documented grant award went to The Sequoia Project (Cooperative Agreement 90AX0026) on August 29, 2019, obligating $6,352,907.79 to operationalize trusted exchange infrastructure. Sequoia partnered with Carequality and RTI to develop and maintain the Common Agreement and associated technical frameworks. The cooperative agreement term concluded on August 28, 2023.

The most recent grant opportunity was posted April 19, 2019 (NAP-AX-001) with a due date of June 17, 2019, seeking an existing industry-based organization to serve as RCE. Eligibility included 501(c)(3) nonprofits, non-501(c)(3) nonprofits, and other organizations. No grant opportunities have been posted since 2019, and no new grant awards have been issued in the past seven years. The program shows no active solicitation as of the current date.