{"id":15349,"date":"2015-04-21T17:46:11","date_gmt":"2015-04-21T21:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.carecloud.com\/?p=15349"},"modified":"2025-10-21T14:25:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T14:25:42","slug":"responding-to-oncs-information-blocking-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carecloud.com\/continuum\/responding-to-oncs-information-blocking-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Responding to ONC\u2019s \u2018Information Blocking\u2019 Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Although stopping short of naming names, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology released a report that charges many healthcare stakeholders with \u2018information blocking.\u2019 Some hospitals, providers and technology vendors, they say, intentionally act to prevent or discourage the appropriate exchange of health data between different systems.<\/p>\n<p>At CareCloud, we applaud ONC\u2019s move to call some industry players to task for restrictive data practices. We believe an open platform drives the greatest innovations in healthcare technology and the best outcomes for patients. In fact, it\u2019s a core part of our mission:<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\u201c\u2026 to re-platform healthcare with modern, cloud-based solutions.<br \/>\nOur open platform is intended<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>to help providers maximize<br \/>\nthe efficiency and effectiveness of their practices,<br \/>\nwhile connecting and collaborating directly with patients<br \/>\nin support of better care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why we\u2019re so pleased to see the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.healthit.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/reports\/info_blocking_040915.pdf\"><strong>ONC report<\/strong><\/a> already spurred some change.<\/p>\n<p>ONC wants to end the practice of \u201ccharging prices or fees \u2026 that make exchanging and using electronic health information cost prohibitive.\u201d Within one week, major health IT vendors announced they would absorb and stop charging for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.modernhealthcare.com\/article\/20150415\/NEWS\/150419944\"><strong>record sharing fees<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Protecting Patient Data<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Information blocking occurs when \u201cpersons or entities knowingly and unreasonably interfere with the exchange or use of electronic health information,\u201d ONC says in their 39-page <em>Report to Congress on Health Information Blocking<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>But not every restriction on information is intentional or malicious \u2014 some are critical and required by state or federal law. Restricting access to data to protect patient safety and improve health care remains essential, ONC says.<\/p>\n<p>Some providers, however, are hiding behind HIPAA. \u201cIt has been reported to ONC that privacy and security laws are cited in circumstances in which they do not in fact impose restrictions,\u201d the report states. \u201cFor example, providers may cite the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/ocr\/privacy\/hipaa\/understanding\/index.html\"><strong>HIPAA Privacy Rule<\/strong><\/a> as a reason for denying the exchange of electronic protected health information for treatment purposes, when the Rule specifically permits such disclosures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ONC Wants<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSharing information seamlessly across the care continuum is fundamental to moving to a person-centered, high-performing health care system,\u201d according to the ONC report.<\/p>\n<p>Their targeted strategies to get there include:<\/p>\n<p><strong>* Financial Incentives:<\/strong> Creating health care payments and other market strategies that reward interoperability and data exchange and discourage information blocking (in coordination with CMS).<br \/>\n<strong>* Clarity:<\/strong> Promoting greater transparency in certified health IT products and services.<br \/>\n<strong>* Market forces:<\/strong> Fostering competition and innovation in health IT and health care.<\/p>\n<p>ONC wants to break open closed information systems \u2014 what they call \u201cwalled gardens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCustomers who become \u2018locked in\u2019 to a particular technology may find it prohibitively expensive to switch to new technologies (or different delivery networks) that offer superior value, capabilities, and opportunities for delivering higher quality and more efficient care,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.healthit.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/reports\/info_blocking_040915.pdf\"><strong>the report states<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Physicians and practice managers should have the right to choose software that makes their lives easier. And, most importantly, we believe electronic health systems that openly share data in a secure and efficient way will advance care coordination and improve patient outcomes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although stopping short of naming names, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology released a report that charges many healthcare stakeholders with \u2018information blocking.\u2019 Some hospitals, providers and technology vendors, they say, intentionally act to prevent or discourage the appropriate exchange of health data between different systems. At CareCloud, we applaud ONC\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43253,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Keeping Health IT Open and Honest vs. &#039;Information Blocking&#039;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why we support a new federal report that takes many healthcare stakeholders to task for &#039;information blocking&#039; or overly-restrictive data practices.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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