ONC Sends Information Blocking Proposed Rule to OMB

By on September 19, 2018

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is one step closer to issuing its long-awaited proposed rule to implement various provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act, including proposed regulations distinguishing between prohibited health information blocking among health care providers and health information technology vendors and other permissible restrictions on access to health information. According to its website, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) received ONC’s proposed rule for review on September 17, 2018. OMB review is one of the final steps in the process before a proposed rule is published in the Federal Register for public comments. OMB did not identify a deadline for completing its review. The agency generally has up to 90 days to complete its review, but can take less time than that.

In addition to defining the scope of prohibited information blocking conduct, the proposed rule is likely to address other issues of interest to health industry stakeholders. According to OMB, the proposed rule “would update the ONC Health IT Certification Program (Program) by implementing certain provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act, including conditions and maintenance of certification requirements for health information technology (IT) developers, the voluntary certification of health IT for use by pediatric healthcare providers, health information network voluntary attestation to the adoption of a trusted exchange framework and common agreement in support of network-to-network exchange, and reasonable and necessary activities that do not constitute information blocking. The rulemaking would also modify the Program through other complementary means to advance health IT certification and interoperability.”

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James A. Cannatti III
James A. Cannatti III* practices at the intersection of today's most pertinent health care issues, including digital health, health IT policy, and fraud and abuse, including Anti-Kickback Statute/Stark Law matters. With more than 10 years of experience in the US Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG), most recently as Senior Counselor for Health Information Technology, James is well-attuned to the regulatory issues impacting the rapidly evolving digital health landscape. Read James A. Cannatti III's full bio.  *Not admitted to practice in the District of Columbia; admitted only in Ohio. Supervised by principals of the Firm who are members of the District of Columbia Bar.

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