The CURES Act Final Rule from the ONC promotes smooth safe access, exchange, and use of electronic health information. Also, the rule is intended to give patients and medical professionals protected access to health information. It also aims to boost innovation and competition by building an ecosystem of innovative applications to provide patients with more healthcare options. Furthermore, it encourages the healthcare industry to use standardized application programming interfaces (APIs), allowing users to securely and quickly access structured electronic health information via smartphone apps.
Additionally, the rule includes a clause mandating patients to have free electronic access to all of their structured and/or unstructured electronic health information (EHI). Also, the regulation applies the CURES Act’s information-blocking measures to further enhance EHI access and exchange. The rule specifies eight exceptions to the notion of data blocking. The Final Rule is available in the Federal Register and it implements the CURES Act’s interoperability requirements. Once adopted, the final regulation will benefit diverse players in the United States healthcare system in a variety of ways.
What you will learn:
- The legal structure of the CURES Act
- What constitutes information blocking under the CURES Act
- Requirements for EHR systems under the CURES Act
- Requirements for data security under the CURES Act
- Interoperability in the context of healthcare IT
- Key strategies for maintaining compliance with the CURES Act
Details
Course length: 45 minutes. CME: 0.75
Languages: American English
Key features: Audio narration, learning activity, and post-assessment.
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Implementation of the CURES Act
The bipartisan 21st Century CURES Act, signed into law by President Obama in 2016, signified an important shift in health policy and health law. There have not been any notable changes in how electronic health information (EHI) is addressed under US federal law since the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Importantly, the information-blocking provision of the CURES Act should always be viewed in the context of existing regulations governing how EHI is communicated in health care.
The Information-Blocking Provision
The information-blocking provision of the CURES Act necessitates new thinking, new methods, and revisions to previous conventions. It also changes the “starting point” for determining whether a given practice is information blocking depending on the fact pattern and the actor(s) involved (health care providers, certified health IT developers, and health information networks or health data exchanges, as defined in the information blocking regulations).
As a result, knowing how the information-blocking provision may apply to specific practices requires taking into consideration case-by-case details. This involves determining whether a regulation exception was met, what an actor’s intent was, and whether there was any interference with the access, exchange, or use of EHI. To learn more and implement these practices into your healthcare facility today, click the button below.
