The 21st Century Cures Act was passed in December 2016 with the goal of improving EHR interoperability through information blocking provisions and streamlining of standards development. It’s legislature intended to have real and immediate impact on the health IT industry.
In this episode of The Cerner Podcast, we're joined by Dr. Donald Rucker, the national coordinator for Health Information Technology. The ONC is considered the beating heart of American health care policy, and one of its primary platforms is the promotion of nationwide health information exchange to improve health care.
In this episode, Rucker will discuss the health IT provisions in the 21st Century Cures Act and what else we can look for from the ONC.
Rucker answers the following questions:
- As a requirement of the 21st Century Cures Act, the ONC needs to define what acceptable practices are not considered information blocking. In addition to specifying standards and certification criteria, what other factors are the ONC considering when defining information blocking?
- With moves and hints of deregulation, how do you foresee changes in the role of the Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) and private sector and how ONC interacts with them?
- How will you be partnering with other private initiatives for interoperability, intelligence innovation and sharing of data in this context?
- From your perspective, can you speak to the importance of the development of open application programming interfaces, particularly as we transition away from fee-for-service to a more collaborative, value-based care environment?
- Looking ahead, what are some other policy changes and regulatory updates that could impact ONC objectives and tasks?
Listen to the full episode below, or click here to view all episodes of The Cerner Podcast!
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