Monday, February 15 | Interoperability, Legislative/Policy, Human Services
Healthcare Information Blocking Final Rule: A Brief Overview
As the COVID-19 pandemic neared the three-month mark, mental health and post-acute providers facing unprecedented challenges serving their communities learned details about new regulations that will significantly impact management of consumer health information. On May 1, 2020, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) published a Final Rule as required by Congress in the 21st Century Cures Act that sets requirements related to Information Blocking.
Information Blocking is generally defined as a practice likely to interfere with access, exchange or use of electronic health information (EHI), except as covered by an exception or required by law. Information Blocking is all about the data—access to, exchange of, and use of EHI—regardless of what technology is used. The goal of the Final Rule is to give consumers safe, secure access to their EHI. The rule also aims to increase innovation and competition by fostering an ecosystem of new applications to provide consumers with more choices in their healthcare.
The Final Rule defines:
Information Blocking Flow
The requestor of the EHI can be the consumer, hospital, agency, government entity, payer, etc. The requestor is responsible for bi-directionally communicating the request to the provider (agency). The provider is responsible for obtaining the requested data and bi-directionally communicating the machine-readable information from the electronic health record (Netsmart CareRecord or other applicable EHR) back to the requestor.
Defining and Sharing EHI
During the first 24 months of the Final Rule, ONC defines EHI as data elements represented in the U.S. Core Data Elements for Interoperability (USCDI). The Information Blocking provisions in the Final Rule apply only to the data that is available in a provider’s system.
Of special interest to behavioral health and mental health providers is the sharing of clinical notes. The Final Rule designates eight types of clinical notes that must be shared:
There are two types of clinical notes to which the Final Rule does not apply:
Even with these two exceptions, providers are required to share medication prescription and monitoring information, counseling session start and stop times, modalities and frequencies of treatments provided, results of clinical tests, and diagnosis information.
We also anticipate that providers will require the ability to limit sharing of EHI on a per person basis in cases of consumer privacy or to prevent consumer harm.
Education
The Final Rule is clear that providers can and should educate their consumers about the use of third-party applications and the risks associated with sharing or providing access to EHI. The Rule outlines specific parameters that this education must be consistent, accurate, unbiased and objective. The education should include information about the advantages, disadvantages and associated risk of sharing EHI.
However, education for Information Blocking goes beyond just EHI sharing. Consumers will now be entitled to receive information they might never have seen before. For example, although HIPAA provides consumers a legal right to access the information in their medical records, the Final Rule expands this access to include the immediate electronic availability of notes. Notes contain many clinical/medical abbreviations and verbiage not written with the intent of consumers ever reading the note. Providers need to plan for a true proactive approach to providing consumers with information and education about the care they are receiving, educating clinical staff on writing notes that consumers will read, and updating policies to reflect these new requirements and procedures.
Timetable
In early November 2020, ONC released an Interim Final Rule (IFR) that extended the compliance date for the Information Blocking provisions from November 2, 2020 to April 5, 2021. The purpose of this change was to provide the healthcare community additional flexibility to effectively respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
For more information, check out the additional links below
ONC Information Blocking Overview
ONC Information Blocking Exceptions
Questions?
For more information or to learn how your agency can be better prepared for this upcoming rule, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Monday, September 18 | Thought Leadership,Human Services,Care Coordination,Cause Connected,Legislative/Policy,Value-based Care
The opioid crisis is one of the most serious healthcare issues in our nation today. But there is hope. We believe there are three strategies your organization can leverage to combat opioid addiction and overdose: integrated care, policy and technology. This blog outlines some examples of all three and lists helpful resources your organization can use.
MoreThursday, September 14 | Thought Leadership,Human Services,Netsmart in the Community
By understanding mental health and suicide go hand-in-hand we can take the first step in reducing suicide risk and help heal our families, friends and loved-ones heal and grow forward as a community.
MoreTuesday, August 29 | Thought Leadership,Human Services,Partnerships and Collaboration
If the past few years has taught us anything, it is that consumers of healthcare want to access care their way. We live in a digital world which is impacting how we deliver care. Netsmart is committed to meeting the new and varied needs of providers by developing solutions that meet them where they are. The same is true for consumers. Having had a taste of virtual services, many consumers will want to continue virtual care and prefer much broader digital experiences. At Netsmart, we call this focus on the user experience "extreme usability."
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