21st Century Cures Act Compliance – Part Four: Preparing for Compliance Day

We’re just days away from the 21st Century Cures Act (“Cures Act”) compliance day (April 5^th). Checking in one last time to make sure you are prepared.

In addition to providing background on what the regulations look like and what their implications will be for providers, we’ve also outlined the unique challenges that long-term post-acute care (LTPAC) providers face – and what we at PointClickCare have done to advocate for the senior care industry along the way.

But what can you be doing in these last couple days to ensure you’re ready for compliance? Here are some of our final tips:

1. Read the rules

Go through the Office of the National Coordinator’s (ONC) official documentation and thoroughly cover all of the information available – much of which is linked below and in our previous blogs.

2. Seek consultation

Consult with your privacy officer or legal team to truly understand the implications for your organization. This is especially important for LTPAC, given that there is a lot of gray area within the “Final Rule” for this segment (though they should be much clearer now than they were six months ago due to joint advocacy efforts!).

3. Collaborate

Speak with associations and organizations like The National Association for Senior Living (NASL) to better understand how the requirements may apply to you, and leverage third party content to help with your transition.

The road to compliance can be a challenging one, but the final destination of greater interoperability is a reassuring promise that we’re headed in the right direction. When timely care decisions are needed, making health data available efficiently and seamlessly can drastically improve trust through transparency, that patient’s care plan, and outcomes.

By achieving interoperability, as an industry we will have unlocked the key to better coordinated care. April 5^th is just the beginning and we look forward to unleashing a world of better data sharing.

Check out the following resources to help you prepare:

• ONC Final Rule
  • 21^st Century Cures Act Overview
  • The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
  • Information Blocking & Exceptions
  • Video: Practical Application of Information Blocking and Interoperability Rules
  • Information Blocking Actors
  • Federal Register
  • Statements from HHS
  • Enforcement Discretion
  • HHS Press Release, OIG proposes rule for civil money penalties for information blocking
    
    
• CMS – Final Interoperability Rule
  • CMS Interoperability and Patient Access final rule
  • Interoperability and Patient Access Fact Sheet
  • Whitepaper from Damo Consulting: Interoperability and Patient Access
  • Federal Register