News: COVID-19 delays interoperability rules

Implementation of two historic rules set to implement interoperability and patient access provisions of the Cures Act, have been postponed until April 5, 2021. In March, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized the  rules to give patients unprecedented safe and secure access to their health data, yet the pandemic has delayed the implementation of the interoperability rules.

While the interoperability rulings would prove an important tool for patient care and record access/transferability during the pandemic, the HHS pushed the implementation date to “provide additional time to allow everyone in the healthcare ecosystem to focus on COVID-19 response.”

Editor’s note: To read the initial HHS final rule, click here. To read the HHS rule extension, click here. To read more ACDIS coverage of the interoperability ruling, click here.