ONC Extends Information Blocking Deadlines
November 3, 2020
By: Robert A. Anderson and Stephanie T. Eckerle
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for IT (“ONC”) announced a much-anticipated interim final rule with comment period (“Interim Rule”). As expected, the ONC extended various compliance dates and timeframes relating to its electronic medical record interoperability and information blocking final rule issued March 9, 2020 (the “Final Rule”). The Interim Rule is a response by ONC to the fact that many stakeholders in the industry are already stretched thin addressing the Covid pandemic. The information blocking provisions that were to become effective on November 2, 2020 have been postponed to April 5, 2021. In addition, various assurances required by the Final Rule relating to Conditions of Certification, Maintenance of Certification of health IT applications, and application programming interfaces have been extended to April 5, 2021. The interim rule is effective immediately, even though there is technically a comment period.
Implementation of the 2015 Edition of the Health IT certification criteria will be delayed until December 31, 2022, except for certain electronic health information export criteria which are extended through December 31, 2023. Standardized functionality for application program interfaces contained in the Final Rule have been extended through December 31, 2022. Finally, ONC extended the deadline by one year for the submission of (i) initial attestations by IT developers that their applications meet the Conditions and Maintenance of Certification requirements in the Final Rule; and, (ii) initial plans and results of real world testing required by the Final Rule.
ONC’s Final Rule is impacting and will continue to significantly impact healthcare providers and electronic medical record information technology developers. The Final Rule implements the information blocking prohibition enacted by Congress in 2016 in the 21st Century Cures Act. The Final Rule adopts new detailed health information technology certification requirements designed to promote technological interoperability among providers and patients. As ONC states in its press release, it intends to enhance “patients’ smartphone access to their health information at no cost through the use of application programming interfaces.”
The following is a table that ONC published on its web page:
|
New Applicability and Compliance Dates/Timeframes & Corresponding Provisions |
||
|---|---|---|
|
April 5, 2021 |
December 31, 2022 |
One Calendar Year Extension |
|
|
|
Practices
Industries
November 3, 2020
By: Robert A. Anderson and Stephanie T. Eckerle
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for IT (“ONC”) announced a much-anticipated interim final rule with comment period (“Interim Rule”). As expected, the ONC extended various compliance dates and timeframes relating to its electronic medical record interoperability and information blocking final rule issued March 9, 2020 (the “Final Rule”). The Interim Rule is a response by ONC to the fact that many stakeholders in the industry are already stretched thin addressing the Covid pandemic. The information blocking provisions that were to become effective on November 2, 2020 have been postponed to April 5, 2021. In addition, various assurances required by the Final Rule relating to Conditions of Certification, Maintenance of Certification of health IT applications, and application programming interfaces have been extended to April 5, 2021. The interim rule is effective immediately, even though there is technically a comment period.
Implementation of the 2015 Edition of the Health IT certification criteria will be delayed until December 31, 2022, except for certain electronic health information export criteria which are extended through December 31, 2023. Standardized functionality for application program interfaces contained in the Final Rule have been extended through December 31, 2022. Finally, ONC extended the deadline by one year for the submission of (i) initial attestations by IT developers that their applications meet the Conditions and Maintenance of Certification requirements in the Final Rule; and, (ii) initial plans and results of real world testing required by the Final Rule.
ONC’s Final Rule is impacting and will continue to significantly impact healthcare providers and electronic medical record information technology developers. The Final Rule implements the information blocking prohibition enacted by Congress in 2016 in the 21st Century Cures Act. The Final Rule adopts new detailed health information technology certification requirements designed to promote technological interoperability among providers and patients. As ONC states in its press release, it intends to enhance “patients’ smartphone access to their health information at no cost through the use of application programming interfaces.”
The following is a table that ONC published on its web page:
|
New Applicability and Compliance Dates/Timeframes & Corresponding Provisions |
||
|---|---|---|
|
April 5, 2021 |
December 31, 2022 |
One Calendar Year Extension |
|
|
|