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    ONC extends Information Blocking compliance deadlines

    On October 29, 2020, the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC) released an Interim Final Rule with Comment Period (IFC) that extended certain compliance dates and timeframes adopted in the 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program Final Rule (ONC Cures Act Final Rule).

    Importantly, this includes extension of the compliance dates for the Information Blocking provisions that were set to go into effect November 2, 2020.  The table provided by the ONC that details the extensions is accessible here and copied below.

    Provision

    Final Rule

    Enforcement Discretion Announcement

    Interim Final Rule with Comment Period

    Information Blocking Overall Applicability Date – (45 CFR part 171)3

    November 2, 2020

    N/A – No Change

    April 5, 2021

    Condition of Certification (CoC) Information Blocking – (§ 170.401)

    November 2, 2020

    3 months after the
    compliance timeframe

    CoC Assurances – (§ 170.402(a)(1)) – Will not take any

    action that constitutes information

    blocking or actions that inhibit access,

    exchange, and use of
    electronic health
    information (EHI)

    November 2, 2020

    3 months after the
    compliance timeframe

    CoC Assurances – (§ 170.402(a)(2) and (3), and (b)(1)) – Other

    Effective date:
    June 30, 2020

    Enforcement discretion
    expired 3 months after the
    effective date of the final
    rule

    CoC Communications – (§ 170.403) – Communications requirements, except for § 170.403(b)(1) where we removed the notice requirement for 2020

    Effective date:
    June 1, 2020

    Enforcement discretion
    expired 3 months after the
    effective date of the final
    rule

     

    CoC API – (§ 170.404(b)(4)) – Compliance for current API criteria

    November 2, 2020

    3 months after the
    compliance timeframe

    CoC API – (§ 170.404(b)(3)) – Rollout of new standardized API functionality

    May 2, 2022

    3 months after the
    compliance timeframe

    December 31, 2022

    CoC Real World Testing – 2015 Edition health IT certification criteria with standards updates

    May 2, 2022

    3 months after the
    compliance timeframe

    CoC Assurances – (§ 170.402(a)(4) and (b)(2)) – EHI Export Rollout

    May 1, 2023

    3 months after the
    compliance timeframe

    December 31, 2023

    CoC Communications – (§ 170.403(b)(1)) – Notice to all customers with which developer has contracts or agreements containing provisions that contravene Communications CoC

    Annually beginning
    in calendar
    year 2020

    Notice can be made until
    March 31, 2021, for the
    2020
    calendar year

    Begin annual cycle 1 year later

    CY 2021

    CoC Initial Attestations – (§ 170.406)

    April 1-30, 2021
    attestation window
    for attestation period
    running June 30,
    2020, through March 1, 2021

    Generally remains the same
    except for the initial
    attestation, which will now
    be accepted through July 30, 2021

    Begin annual cycle 1 year later

    CY 2022

    CoC Real World Testing – (§ 170.405(b)(1) and (2)) Submit initial plan and initial results submission

    Plan: December 15, 2020

    Results: March 15, 2022

    Initial Plan: Initial RWT plans (i.e., 2021 RWT plans) may be submitted through March 15, 2021

    Initial Results: Initial RWT results from the 2021 performance year may be

    Begin annual cycle 1 year later

    Initial Plan: December 15, 2021

    Initial Results:
    March 15, 2023

     

    Note that for the Content and Manner Exception, in § 171.301(a), for the period before October 6, 2022, the definition of EHI is limited to, at a minimum, the data elements represented in the USCDI standard; and, for the period on and after Oct 6, 2022, EHI is defined as it is in § 171.102. These dates reflect the extension from May 2, 2022, which was the compliance date included in the ONC Cures Act Final Rule. These dates are discussed in more detail in section II.A.1.


    This is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be legal advice and does not create or imply an attorney-client relationship.

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