We hope you are doing well in these tough times. You may have recently heard something along the lines of “patients will have access to your notes as of November 2nd.” This is NOT TRUE. However, the federal government is continuing towards its related goals of electronic health information interoperability and ease of patient access to their records.

21st Century CURES Act – What’s Coming?

Following the passage of the 21st Century CURES Act in 2016, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has implemented a final rule which addresses electronic health information (EHI) blocking.

Preliminary things to know about ONC’s CURES Act Final Rule:

1.  ONC’s Final Rule only applies to electronic health information, or EHI.
2. “Information blocking” relates not only to IT interoperability, but also to a patient’s ability to access their EHI from treatment providers.
3. Compliance is NOT required on November 2nd – Whereas compliance was initially required on November 2nd, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, ONC has just extended the date of compliance to April 5, 2021.
   Please stay tuned as we develop more resources.

Additional CURES resources (which may not have the newly-announced April compliance date) include:

From the APA:   

• 21st Century Cures Act – The Office of the National Coordinator: Interoperability and Information Blocking Final Rule Overview for Psychiatrists

From the AMA:

• WHAT IS INFORMATION BLOCKING?
• HOW DO I COMPLY WITH INFO BLOCKING AND WHERE DO I START?

We hope you find this information useful.

Stay safe, and keep up all of the great work you are doing!