What You Need to Know:
– HHS finalizes interoperability rules that will implement interoperability and patient access provisions of the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act) and support President Trump’s MyHealthEData initiative.
– The ONC Final Rule identifies and finalizes the reasonable and necessary activities that do not constitute information blocking while establishing new rules to prevent “information blocking” practices (e.g., anti-competitive behaviors) by healthcare providers, developers of certified health IT, health information exchanges, and health information networks as required by the Cures Act.
– ONC’s final rule establishes a secure, standards-based application programming interface (API) requirements to support a patient’s access and control of their electronic health information. APIs are the foundation of smartphone applications (apps).
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized two transformative rules that will give patients unprecedented safe, secure access to their health data. Interoperability has been pursued by multiple administrations and numerous laws. These two rules finally deliver on giving patients true access to their healthcare data to make informed healthcare decisions and better manage their care. Putting patients in charge of their health records is a key piece of giving patients more control in healthcare, and patient control is at the center of the Trump administration’s work toward a value-based healthcare system.
Interoperability & Patient Access Rules Goals
The two rules, issued by the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), implement interoperability and patient access provisions of the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act) and support President Trump’s MyHealthEData initiative. MyHealthEData is designed to empower patients around a common aim – giving every American access to their medical information so they can make better healthcare decisions.
“President Trump is delivering on his vision for healthcare that is affordable, personalized, and puts patients in control. From the start of our efforts to put patients and value at the center of our healthcare system, we’ve been clear: Patients should have control of their records, period. Now that’s becoming a reality,” said HHS Secretary Alex M. Azar. “These rules are the start of a new chapter in how patients experience American healthcare, opening up countless new opportunities for them to improve their own health, find the providers that meet their needs and drive quality through greater coordination.”
These new policies include:
Patient Access API (applicable January 1, 2021)
The Patient Access API will allow patients to access their data through any third-party apps they choose to connect to the API and could also be used to integrate a health plan’s information to a patient’s EHR. By requiring their relevant health information including their claims to be shared with them, patients can take this information with them as they move from plan to plan, and provider to provider throughout the healthcare system.
Provider Directory API (applicable January 1, 2021)
Under this rule, MA organizations, Medicaid FFS programs, CHIP FFS programs, Medicaid managed care plans, and CHIP managed care entities are required to make provider directory information available via the Provider Directory API. This API must be accessible via a public-facing digital endpoint on the payer’s website. To facilitate this, we link to the DaVinci PDEX Plan Net IG
Payer-to-Payer Data Exchange (applicable January 1, 2022)
CMS-regulated payers are required to exchange certain patient clinical data (specifically the U.S. Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) version 1 data set) at the patient’s request, allowing the patient to take their information with them as they move from payer to payer over time to help create a cumulative health record with their current payer. Having a patient’s health information in one place will facilitate informed decision-making, efficient care, and ultimately can lead to better health outcomes.
Improving the Dually Eligible Experience by Increasing the Frequency of Federal-State Data Exchanges (applicable April 1, 2022)
This final rule will update requirements for states to exchange certain enrollee data for individuals dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, including state buy-in files and “MMA files” (called the “MMA file” after the acronym for the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003) from monthly to daily exchange to improve the dual-eligible beneficiary experience, ensuring beneficiaries are getting access to appropriate services and that these services are billed appropriately the first time, eliminating waste and burden.
Public Reporting and Information Blocking (applicable late 2020)
CMS will publicly report eligible clinicians, hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) that may be information blocking based on how they attested to certain Promoting Interoperability Program requirements. Knowing which providers may have attested can help patients choose providers more likely to support electronic access to their health information.
Digital Contact Information (applicable late 2020)
CMS will begin publicly reporting in late 2020 those providers who do not list or update their digital contact information in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES). This includes providing digital contact information such as secure digital endpoints like a Direct Address and/or an FHIR API endpoint.
Admission, Discharge, and Transfer Event Notifications (applicable fall 2020)
CMS is modifying Conditions of Participation (CoPs) to require hospitals, including psychiatric hospitals and CAHs, to send electronic patient event notifications of a patient’s admission, discharge, and/or transfer to another healthcare facility or to another community provider or practitioner. This will improve care coordination by allowing a receiving provider, facility, or practitioner to reach out to the patient and deliver appropriate follow-up care in a timely manner. This policy will be applicable 6 months after publication of this rule.
“The days of patients being kept in the dark are over,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “In today’s digital age, our health system’s data sharing capacity shouldn’t be mired in the stone age. Unfortunately, data silos continue to fragment care, burden patients, and providers, and drive up costs through repeat tests. Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, these rules begin a new chapter by requiring insurance plans to share health data with their patients in a format suitable for their phones or other device of their choice. We are holding payers to a higher standard while protecting patient privacy through secure access to their health information. Patients can expect improved quality and better outcomes at a lower cost.”
For more information about the CMS Interoperability and Patient Access final rule, visit here.
For more information about the ONC 21st Century Cures Act final rule, visit here.
