The Value of 1upHealth’s Growing Network of Endpoints

1upHealth’s ever growing network of clinical and payer endpoints is one of the value drivers that sets us apart from the competition, both in terms of data exchange reach and the value that it brings to our customers and their end users. More endpoints mean greater data accessibility, leading to better health outcomes and improved business results.

Today, we have one of the industry’s largest networks of healthcare endpoints, including over 7,500 Clinical EHR patient-mediated endpoints and over 130 Payer-Patient Access endpoints. Moreover, we’re committed to expanding our network of endpoints and staying abreast of changing industry requirements to ensure our customers have access to the most robust network possible.

In this blog, I explain the what, why, and how behind our network of endpoints and our network growth strategy. 

But first, let’s define the term “endpoint”

In technical terms, an endpoint is where application programming interfaces (APIs) send requests to receive information. There are a variety of endpoint types, each of which has a specific use case. We’ll get into that next. 

1upHealth’s sizable network of endpoints paves the way for our customers (and their end users) to readily exchange health data, empowering them to aggregate clinical and claims data across the healthcare system into our secure FHIR platform, analyze that data, and then take action. 

The nitty-gritty of our endpoints

Now that we’ve defined the term “endpoint”, let’s dig into the two types of endpoints that make up the 1upHealth network.

Patient-mediated endpoints

A patient-mediated endpoint requires the individual to verify their identity with the data provider (typically by logging into a portal) and authorize the disclosure of their data to the designated data recipient.

Essential to many of our solutions, including 1up Patient Connect, 1up Patient Access API, and 1up Payer-to-Payer Data Exchange API, patient-mediated endpoints include: 

• Clinical EHR (Part of 1up Patient Connect): Patients enter their EHR portal credentials (e.g., Epic MyChart) to share clinical data. The EHRs we currently connect to include Epic, Oracle (formerly Cerner), Veradigm (formerly Allscripts), eClinicalWorks, and Meditech. 
• Payer-to-Payer (legacy Payer-to-Payer, phasing out): Health plan members authenticate with their former health plan to share claims and clinical data with their new health plan.
• Payer-Patient Access (1up Patient Access API; 1up Patient Connect): Current members of a health plan authenticate with their health plan to share claims and clinical data with third-party applications.

Population-level endpoints

Unlike patient-mediated endpoints, population-level endpoints enable the sharing of data for a group (or population) of patients or members (i.e., not one patient at a time) without the need for the individuals to first authenticate their identity. This type of data sharing typically involves a B2B contract between two organizations that allows them to legally exchange data. 

These endpoints support 1up Population Connect, 1up Payer-to-Payer Data Exchange API, and 1up Provider Access API. They include:

• Clinical EHR (1up Population Connect): Contract agreements are in place for sharing full clinical data for a roster of patients. The EHRs we currently connect to are Epic, Oracle, and athenahealth.
• Payer-to-Payer (Part of our CMS-0057 solution): Members opt in, typically during enrollment, and payers initiate B2B transactions for claims and clinical data without cost information.
• Provider Access (Part of our CMS-0057 solution): Providers initiate B2B transactions for claims and clinical data from payers for a roster of patients. Members can opt out of this data exchange if they so choose.

The value of our growing network of endpoints

1upHealth adds endpoints to our network every day. Each endpoint added creates value for our customers by empowering their end users to pull data from more providers, health systems, and payer organizations. These connections create a more unified ecosystem where data flows more easily and securely between patients, providers, and payers. 

In addition, our customers (and their developers) can build applications on top of our network of endpoints instead of having to connect to the endpoints on their own, a time- and resource-intensive effort. Our customers get immediate access to a network of endpoints that are fully owned and managed by 1upHealth, leaving the cumbersome work of endpoint maintenance and management to our team. 

Furthermore, we’re committed to continuously growing our network of endpoints. For example, we’re on track to connect to 99% of Epic’s health system endpoints by the end of 2024. That means our network effect will grow, compounding value for our customers.

By continuously expanding our network of endpoints, 1upHealth is paving the way for a more interconnected and patient-centric US healthcare system. We’re enhancing data accessibility, improving patient outcomes, and supporting healthcare organizations in their journey toward digital transformation.

The future of the 1upHealth network

As the healthcare industry continues to adapt to new regulatory requirements and emerging technologies, 1upHealth’s network will serve as a blueprint for fostering greater connectivity and collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem. We’re committed to having the best network in the industry. 

If you want to learn more about 1upHealth’s network, please contact us today.