HHS’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has published an interim final rule pushing back the compliance dates required to meet information-blocking and health IT regulations until 2021, the federal agency announced Thursday.
The move extends information blocking provisions and compliance deadlines until at least April 5. Additionally, deadlines for the 2015 edition health IT certification updates and new standardization application-programming interface will now be enforced on Dec. 31, 2022.
National Coordinator for Health IT Don Rucker, MD, said his office made their decision to allow hospitals and provider groups more flexibility and time to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are hearing that while there is strong support for advancing patient access and clinician coordination through the provisions in the final rule, stakeholders also must manage the needs being experienced during the current pandemic,” Rucker said in an Oct. 29 statement. “To be clear, ONC is not removing the requirements advancing patient access to their health information that are outlined in the Cures Act Final Rule. Rather, we are providing additional time to allow everyone in the healthcare ecosystem to focus on COVID-19 response.”
HHS and the ONC finalized these interoperability rules in March, circling November as the earliest possible date of enforcement. In April, however, the Trump administration pushed back enforcing penalties, citing concerns for healthcare systems battling COVID-19.
The American College of Radiology has been one of many provider groups lobbying for HHS to push back deadlines. It also recently reached out to HHS after fielding many of the same questions from imaging providers regarding radiology report access under these new information-blocking rules.
Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.