Practices need to prepare for information blocking rule
By Featured article
Is your practice ready to be compliant with the information blocking rule under the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act)? By Jan. 1, 2023, all Electronic Health Information (eHI) needs to be sent to your patient portals automatically. It will not be dependent on patients to request access to their eHI.
What does that mean for your practice?
Assume that everything you document in your patients’ charts will be accessible and viewable. Have you avoided unflattering comments, or been considerate of cultural or social practices like referring to a patient by their preferred gender and not only their gender assignment at birth?
To avoid any conflicts with patients, be sure to:
- Screen through your charts
- Document your reasons for not releasing any specific information
- Make notes that alert you to make additional considerations when releasing information
- Summarize the chart
- Help patients understand the contents of their chart and what the implications are for sharing their data with others
As a best practice, providers are encouraged to create SOPs for managing inaccurate or troubling information in the chart; when patients request their information and how you have released it; and regulations around secondary releases of information.
In addition, practices will be required to provide the electronic access free of charge, and the practice must provide an alternative format upon request, like the printing or exporting of documents in a timely manner.
If an EHR developer interferes or prevents access to the eHI, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) can consider a fine of up to $1 million for each information blocking incident. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will release the penalties for providers at the end of 2022.
For urology practices using the UroChartEHR®, the target date for certification is set for the end of October 2022. In addition, UroChartEHR is undergoing Real World Testing as required by ONC to meet the dates set forth by the Cures Act.
For more information on how your practice can access the information, or to learn about UroChartEHR, contact info@intrinsiq.com.
