The 21st Century Cures Act, signed into law in December 2016, marked a significant shift in the healthcare landscape by focusing on patient empowerment through enhanced access to medical records, stringent privacy protections, and increased choices in healthcare options.
Eight years later, this landmark legislation continues to revolutionize the interaction between patients, providers, and the healthcare system. Recently, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an updated ruling to the Act to establish penalties for healthcare providers who engage in information blocking. This rule, aims to deter practices that prevent or discourage the access, exchange, or use of electronic health information (EHI).
Key disincentives include financial penalties and reduced Medicare payments for hospitals, critical access hospitals (CAHs), and clinicians found to be information blockers. These measures are designed to ensure that both patients and healthcare providers have timely and secure access to health information, thereby improving care coordination and efficiency.
A significant step towards reducing information blocking in healthcare was taken in June 2024. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized a new rule establishing disincentives for healthcare providers. This builds on existing penalties for other actors, creating a more comprehensive enforcement framework.
These regulations reinforce the goals of the 21st Century Cures Act, enhancing the interoperability of health information systems and promoting a more transparent and patient-centered healthcare environment. It also marks a significant step toward eliminating barriers to health information access and fostering better healthcare outcomes.
As the 21st Century Cures Act evolves, it continues to focus on interoperability by aligning with the core principles of access, information sharing, and choice.
Access
At the heart of the Cures Act is the objective to promote patient autonomy in managing their health information. The Act enables patients to access their medical records seamlessly via smartphones and contemporary software applications. This transition towards digital accessibility not only simplifies the retrieval of health information but also ensures that patients can actively participate in their healthcare decisions, fostering a more informed patient population.
The Cures Act has significantly broadened patient and payer choice by enhancing data availability. Increased transparency allows patients to make more informed decisions regarding their care based on quality and cost metrics. Just as transparency has transformed sectors like online shopping and travel, healthcare applications now deliver vital information to patients and payers, aiding in decision-making and cost management.
The Act underscores the importance of safeguarding patient data, ensuring that electronic systems and records employ robust security measures. Applications authorized by patients utilize highly secure protocols similar to those used in travel and banking apps. This ensures that while patients can easily access their data, their privacy remains uncompromised. By establishing a secure framework for data access, the Cures Act mitigates risks associated with data breaches and unauthorized access, reinforcing trust in digital health platforms.
Information Sharing
The Information Blocking Rule, a critical component of the Cures Act, addresses the widespread issue of information blocking, where health IT developers deliberately hinder access to personal health information (PHI). This rule aims to eradicate such anti-competitive practices, ensuring patients have unrestricted access to their complete health records. The rule’s implementation marks a significant step towards enhanced transparency, facilitating better access, exchange, and usability of electronic health information (EHI).
Also, when healthcare providers switch EHR or EMR platforms, vendors must facilitate a usable export of all patient records, not just summary records. This ensures continuity of care and allows providers to transfer complete patient narratives, enhancing patient care outcomes.
A critical step forward in health data management is also consolidating records from legacy EHR, ERP, and HR systems into an active archive. This strategy avoids the need to access multiple legacy systems for a single information request. Advanced authentication services, such as Single Sign-On, provide seamless connections from current EHRs to historical medical records. As healthcare organizations adapt to new data flows and patient engagement tools, a solid lifecycle data management plan that consolidates disparate data sets becomes crucial.
For multi-hospital organizations managing numerous legacy systems, streamlining data management and adopting a forward-thinking strategy is essential. An active archive reduces legacy system management costs, provides role-based security, and offers a solution for long-term record storage. This not only enhances compliance and security but also helps with costs by reducing maintenance contracts and labor burdens.
Choice
The 21st Century Cures Act has significantly expanded patient choice in healthcare. The democratization of health information has transformed patients from passive recipients of care to active participants in their healthcare journey.
The Act’s focus on interoperability means that patients are no longer tethered to a single provider or health system. They can transfer their health records seamlessly across different providers, enabling them to seek second opinions, switch doctors, or receive specialized care without the cumbersome process of manual record transfers. This ease of movement promotes a competitive healthcare market where providers must continuously improve their services to attract and retain patients.
Looking Forward:
Eight years after its enactment, the 21st Century Cures Act continues to drive a transformative shift towards a more transparent, secure, and patient-centric healthcare system. By fostering ease of access, enhancing privacy protections, and promoting informed decision-making, the Act empowers patients and paves the way for a more efficient and equitable healthcare landscape.
As healthcare providers and organizations navigate these changes, adopting data management strategies and leveraging advanced technology systems will be key to thriving in this new era of patient empowerment.
Far from being a static piece of legislation, the Cures Act remains a dynamic force in healthcare, continually evolving to meet the needs of patients and ensuring that healthcare systems are more responsive, transparent, and accessible.
The Act continues to exemplify a commitment to putting patients first and ensuring that they have the tools and information necessary to take control of their health.
David Navarro
David has over 22 years of health information technology (HIT) experience in Integration and Health Information Exchange. He provides vision and leadership for the design, development, and execution of HIT initiatives. David previously held technical leadership positions at both Indiana Health Information Network and Michiana Health Information network, serving as a Solution Architecture Director and Chief Architect. He has also served as an Integration Support Engineer and Senior Systems Analyst at Cerner Corporation. In his professional career, David has focused on data quality, data insights, and interoperability. He has implemented hundreds of interfaces between clinical and financial systems utilizing a variety of integration platforms, custom ETL processes, and nationally accepted standards. He has driven interoperability initiatives throughout his career and continues to focus on the curation and accessibility of data in the healthcare ecosystem.
