Under the 21st Century Cures Act, it is declared that new IT standards will have an impact on all of us in health care. All of the mandated requirements do not go into effect until April 2022 with additional requirements rolling out over the next couple of years. Doctorsoft is already taking proactive measures with our IT development and clinical teams to ensure that we are prepared with patient portal functionality in our electronic health records (EHR) system.
What Is The 21st Century Cures Act?
The 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Certification Program is also known as the “Cures Act “. It is designed to prevent blocking electronic health information between devices, applications, and health systems. “Cure Act Final Rule” came into effect on December 13, 2016, and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) issued final regulations in May 2020.What Are The Intended Improvements Of The Cures Act?
Intended improvements to the healthcare system under Cures Act include:- Easy exchange of patient information in order to improve interoperability of health information technology.
- Prohibition of activities relating to engagement in information blocking.
- Improvement in inpatient care.
- Certification requirements updates to Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (“ONC”) Health IT Certification.
- Address the opioid abuse crisis.
How Could These Changes Affect My Practice And Doctorsoft EHR Solutions?
- New health IT standards and requirements are applicable to Doctorsoft EHR software and its products in connection with maintaining our status as certified electronic health record technology.
- Prohibition to information blocking as per Cures Act Final Rule, that applies to “Actors” as defined in the rule, it includes Doctorsoft and our clients.
What Is Information Blocking?
Information blocking has been defined by ONC as those activities which are materially discouraging to interfere with, preventing the access, exchange, or use of electronic health insurance (EHI). The Cures Act Final Rule eliminates the limitations on interoperability for easy exchange of health information and impedes innovation in health IT-enabled care delivery.How Is EHI Defined?
“EHI” refers to electronic health information and it includes –- The data elements are represented in the USCDI standard from April 5, 2021, through October 5, 2022.
What Is The CMS Final Rule And When It Is Into Effect?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) adopted the “Interoperability and patient Access Final Rule” which includes the requirements intended to facilitate interoperability and patient access to health information. Through the Cures Act, ONC, the agency responsible for issuing the Cures Act Final Rule, also announced certain compliance deadlines associated with the rule. Earlier the provisions were scheduled to be effective from November 2, 2020, but that timeline was extended until April 5, 2021.What Is Doctorsoft Doing To Comply With The Cures Act Final Rule?
Doctorsoft is committed to implementing the updates that are essential to ensure our system and remain current with applicable Cures Act and EHR certification along with information blocking requirements. Our road map going forward is aimed to be compliant with all required future software updates to maintain certified status for our CEHRT consistent with the deadlines set in the Cures Act Final Rule, as updated by the Cures Act Interim Final Rule.- We have checked our all arrangements for interoperability-related services and are prepared for compliance with restricting the exchange of information, to the extent applicable.
- Our plan of action is continuously moving towards finalizing the strategy of additional development work in a more automated fashion that enables our clients to make results available for their patients on a timeline.
- Doctorsoft meets the compliance obligations and helps practitioners in issues related to using software for certain test results available to their patients automatically without any prior explanation or consultation.