HHS Extends Information Blocking and Health IT Certification Compliance Dates

The US Department of Health and Human Services announced today the details of a highly anticipated interim final rule extending the compliance dates to meet certain information blocking and health IT certification requirements under the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule. This provides welcome relief for health care providers, certified HIT developers, and health information networks/health information exchanges who have been grappling with operationalizing and implementing the Cures Act Final Rule by the November 2, 2020 compliance date.

With the extended compliance dates, the compliance date for information blocking requirements is now April 5, 2021. The health IT certification criteria and standardized API functionality is now required by December 31, 2022. The HHS press release also indicates that the interim final rule will include technical corrections and clarifications.

“The interim final rule issued today provides the health care ecosystem additional flexibility and time to effectively respond to the public health threats posed by the spread of COVID-19. It extends the Program compliance dates beyond those identified in the April 21, 2020, enforcement discretion announcement and establishes new future applicability dates for information blocking provisions. The interim final rule also adopts updated standards and makes technical corrections and clarifications to the ONC Cures Act Final Rule.”

We will provide additional information once the interim final rule is published.

For more information on Cures Act Final Rule compliance requirements, contact your Quarles & Brady attorney or:

• Meghan C. O'Connor: (414) 277-5423 / meghan.oconnor@quarles.com