Citing widespread confusion over upcoming federal information blocking requirements, hospitals, medical groups and long-term care organizations have asked Health and Human Services to push back its Oct. 6 compliance deadline by a full year…
“Despite our best efforts to educate our members, significant knowledge gaps and confusion still exist within the provider and vendors communities with respect to implementation and enforcement of information blocking regulations,” the American Medical Association, American Hospital Association, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and others wrote to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra (PDF). “Given the great importance of these policies, we want to make sure that they are implemented as smoothly and successfully as possible—for both patients and the clinicians and providers who care for them.”
The Oct. 6 regulations broaden the scope of information blocking rules put into effect in April 2021 that required health IT vendors, providers and health information exchanges to enable patients to access and download their health records with third-party apps. Under the rule, providers can’t inhibit the access, exchange or use of health information unless the data fall within eight exceptions… Read the full article here.
