In addition to the Information Blocking updates we discussed in a recent blog post, the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule also requires use of Cures Act Edition certified software. This will include some new and revised certification criteria. Providers will need to have their EHR updated with these new requirements in time for the 2022 reporting period. Is your EHR provider ready?

The information blocking requirements of the Cures Act Final Rule will take effect on November 2, 2020. This means healthcare providers have barely a month to ensure they are in compliance or risk financial penalties. When it comes to allowing proper access to information as required by HIPAA, commonly called “Right of Access,” regulatory entities have already begun cracking down on violators. In 2019, the Office for Civil rights (OCR) at HHS had announced its intention to more aggressively enforce the rights of patients to have prompt access to medical records without being overcharged for it.

At the close of June 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new proposed rule that would make some of the recent flexibilities for telehealth permanent. Many of these changes are already in place, though temporarily for now, in response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. If finalized, this rule would make several of these new telehealth flexibilities permanent. This blog will provide you with a summary of the proposed rule so that you can stay informed on what it could mean for you and your practice.

For years, one of the biggest complaints that providers have had about the Promoting Interoperability program has been that they are unable to obtain direct messaging addresses for their coordinating providers. When I speak with practices, the number one reason I hear for why their Support Electronic Referral Loops by Sending Health Information and Support Electronic Referral Loops by Receiving and Incorporating Health Information measures are scoring low is that they cannot get others to exchange CCDAs with them because of this difficulty. CMS has heard this complaint but is still requiring that providers electronically exchange care coordination information. These two measures combined are worth 40% of a clinician or group’s total Promoting Interoperability score.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) on March 14, 2020. Then last week Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act with overwhelming bipartisan support. As expected, it was signed into law by President Trump on Friday, March 27, 2020. While the FFCRA is intended to make it easier for businesses to provide employees with sick leave and family leave, the $2 trillion CARES Act stimulus package is intended to lessen the financial and economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on both businesses and individuals.

As EHR technology progresses, a greater emphasis has been placed on nationwide interoperability between vendors in order to take full advantage of patients' electronic health information. Last week, ONC released its final interoperability report, "Connecting Health and Care for the Nation: A Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap." In the roadmap, ONC laid out three high-level goals for health IT interoperability to help ensure they achieve a "learning health system by 2024.

One of the unavoidable side effects of the shift to Electronic Medical Records (EMR) has been a nearly exponential surge in the amount of digital data storage being occupied by the healthcare industry, which some are referring to as the “data deluge.” In all honesty, this data flood of epic proportions is something that everyone really should have seen coming a long time ago. It’s been pretty obvious for quite some time. For a number of years already, in fact, medical-related data has been consuming increasingly bigger pieces of the global storage pie.

Back in early May, I posted a blog article on the approved draft of the 21st Century Cures Act—a bill designed to streamline funding and hasten approvals for new biomedical research, cures, and medical treatments for rare, terminal, and chronic conditions. In that article, I also promised that I would keep everyone up to speed as things developed. Well… things are developing. Don’t worry, though… it looks like mostly good things are happening, for once.