The 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) Health IT Certification Program is in effect. Healthcare providers, health information networks, and health IT developers of certified health IT are mandated to take steps toward compliance by the deadline.
Healthcare providers do not want – and cannot afford – to scramble at each health IT regulatory step. Instead, they need to adopt a long-term plan to meet compliance deadlines and create a competitive edge to success in the future of health.
In this post, we explain the steps that organizations need to take to avoid the distress of CMS denying payment/reimbursement because of lack of compliance to the ONC Interoperability Rule information blocking provisions.
Key Milestones to Meet
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed and are following a roadmap to compliance1, even if some areas are delayed. Are you prepared for what’s next? Below, we’ve outlined the major milestones in play. Updates occur yearly so it is imperative to become compliant as soon as possible in order to keep things from getting more and more complex, and to prevent you from falling further behind the curve.
This is the very definition of interoperability and, ultimately, the goal of the 21st Century Cures Act. Interoperability empowers patients to be active players in their healthcare and helps to streamline processes reducing burden for healthcare providers.
Although deadlines to compliance have been extended given the Covid-19 pandemic impact on the industry, the 21st Century Cures Act is still happening. Don’t fall behind!
Nine Steps to Keep Doing Business with CMS
You may not realize that you are information blocking until it's too late...and CMS is delaying your reimbursements because you aren't in compliance. You can avoid the shock and pain of not getting paid by taking action now.
If you want to continue doing business with CMS this year, here’s what you need to do:
Work with Standards & Interoperability Experts
Feeling overwhelmed? No healthcare provider can afford to struggle (or wants to) at each health IT regulatory step. As objective experts in healthcare standards and interoperability, we can help your organization adopt a long-term plan to meet compliance deadlines to ensure your business with CMS is not disrupted – and create a competitive edge to success in the future of health.
Enter BookZurman — a consulting firm that bridges the gap between healthcare and technology. We can:
1 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). (n.d.). CMS Interoperability Roadmap: A Proposed Rule to Help Patients Access their Health Information. https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/facas/2019-04-10_CMS_Presentation_508.pdf
2 ONC’s Cures Act Final Rule: View Final Rules. (n.d.). https://www.healthit.gov/curesrule/download
Connect the Dots with BookZurman
BookZurman’s team of multidisciplinary, highly specialized experts continue to drive progress and innovation in the healthcare IT community. For more information on this and other work in the areas of standards and interoperability, informatics architecture or clinical decision support, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.