For those living under a COVID hole (my heart goes out to you) and missed that Information Blocking from the 21st Century Cures Act went into effect this week on April 5, 2021. If you read this site regularly, you’re probably aware already since we shared a number of the information blocking exceptions and the Information Blocking FAQs that ONC shared before the deadline. Hopefully you were well prepared.
As I look back at various health IT regulations, this is probably the biggest piece of legislation to impact healthcare technology since the HITECH Act (Meaningful Use). There’s not the same money behind it that caused healthcare organizations to fall over themselves as they chased government money, but the new information blocking requirements may have as much of an impact long term.
As we all learn to deal with the information blocking regulation, I had a chance to sit down with Mike Lipinski, Division Director Regulatory and Policy Affairs Division at ONC, to learn first hand some of what healthcare organizations should be doing to ensure they’re compliant with these new regulations. Plus, we ask Lipinski to share some of how these type of regulations come together and what healthcare organizations can expect from ONC in regards to information blocking going forward.
Here’s a quick look at some of the questions we asked:
- April 5th was the compliance date for many pieces of the 21st Century Cures Act including information blocking. What does this mean for a healthcare organization?
- What would you say to a healthcare organization that maybe wasn’t prepared for the deadline? What should they work on first?
- What do you think will be the most challenging parts of this regulation for healthcare organizations to comply with?
- Can you share a little bit about how this type of regulation comes together and some of the limits you have when writing the regulation?
- There’s been a lot of discussion around the information blocking exceptions. Do you expect those to continue to evolve with ONC offering more clarifications on what really is an exception and what isn’t?
- How is ONC going to approach reports of information blocking? Will their be an information blocking “wall of shame” like the HIPAA Breach “wall of shame”?
- Now that the rule is out, what’s next for ONC?
Check out our interview with Mike Lipinski, Division Director Regulatory and Policy Affairs Division at ONC, to learn more about this important healthcare regulation.
Other Information Blocking Resources from ONC including a few mentioned in the video above:
- A New Day for Interoperability – The Information Blocking Regulations Start Now
- List of ONC Regulatory Actions
- Pssst…Information blocking practices, your days are numbered…Pass it on.
- To share or not to share, what’s an exception (to information blocking)?
- New Resources to Help Health IT Developers Understand ONC Cures Act Final Rule Requirements
Learn more about ONC: https://www.healthit.gov/
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