ONC Rules  (November 1, 2020)

Office of the National Coordinator Delays Information Blocking Regulations
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) extended the compliance deadline for its information blocking regulation until April 5, 2021. This means that health care providers, IT developers, and health information exchanges will have an additional six months to comply with the data sharing deadline due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The original deadline was set for today. Stakeholder organizations had expressed concerns that compliance with the technical requirements would divert resources away from patient care during the current public health emergency or make it more difficult for patients to access their own data during this time. ONC also extended the deadlines for meeting health IT certification standards and for adopting standards to allow patient data to flow into apps until December 31, 2022.

The American Medical Association created a two-part educational resource to help physicians and their medical practices understand the requirements and develop an information blocking compliance program. Part 1 of its resource outlines what information blocking is, key terms to know, examples of information blocking practices, and a summary of exceptions for when physicians may restrict access, exchange, and use of EHI. Part 2 will help physicians start down the path of compliance, including questions to consider, considerations for maintaining a compliance program, and next steps.

Part 1: What is Information Blocking
Part 2: How do I comply with Information Blocking and where do I start?