21st Century Cures quick links
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The 21st Century Cures Act requires that patients have easy access to all health information "without delay" — so go electronic.
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The goal of ONC’s Cures Act Final Rule is simple — it’s about choice and health information access
What does the 21st Century Cures Act mean for patients?
- Allow patients to easily access their health records
- Protect patient privacy and security
- Promote the ability to shop for care and to manage costs
What does the 21st Century Cures Act mean for clinicians?
- Make electronic patient data requests easy for the patient and provider
- Allow for choice of apps
- Improve patient safety
What does the Cures Act do?
The Cures Act aims to advance interoperability and improve patient data access.
The Cures Act contains provisions to:
Advance interoperability
Share information with patients
Streamline development and delivery of drugs and medical devices
Accelerate research into serious illnesses
Address the opioid crisis
Improve mental health services
21st Century Cures Act timeline
It is important to have a good grasp of the timeline.
Here’s a summary of key 21st Century Cures Act milestones through 2023.
Click graphic to enlarge
Frequently Asked Questions
The Cures Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama on Dec. 13, 2016. The bipartisan legislation seeks to increase choice and access for patients and providers and applies to all health IT developers, health information exchanges (HIEs)/networks, and healthcare providers.
The Cures Act includes provisions to streamline drug and medical device delivery, promote research on serious illnesses, address the opioid crisis, and boost mental health services.
In addition, it seeks to ease regulatory burdens associated with EHR and health IT use.
The Cures Act also contains provisions geared toward advancing interoperability and requiring health IT developers, HIEs/networks, and healthcare providers not to engage in information blocking — or preventing or interfering with the access, exchange, or use of electronic health information (EHI).
There are in fact two Final Rules, one produced by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the other by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
These rules — based on the Cures Act’s interoperability, patient access, and information blocking provisions — guide industry members such as providers, payers, and technology vendors in their design of health IT systems.
The ONC Final Rule lays out regulations to prevent information blocking by healthcare providers, health IT developers, HIEs, and health information networks.
Information blocking is a practice that is likely to interfere with access, exchange, or use of EHI. Such a practice is considered information blocking except when required by law or specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a “reasonable and necessary activity.”
Yes, the ONC provides eight information blocking exceptions. These are categories of the “reasonable and necessary” activities that do not constitute information blocking, given certain conditions are met. They include the following:
- Preventing harm
- Privacy
- Security
- Infeasibility
- Health IT performance
- Content and manner
- Fees
- Licensing
The Cures Act and information blocking provisions apply to ALL healthcare providers (regardless of participation in regulatory reporting programs), health IT developers, and HIEs/networks.
As a Greenway client, you will need to upgrade to the latest release of Prime Suite v21 or Intergy v21. We recommend that you complete this upgrade as soon as possible for your practice. These are the minimum certified Cures Edition EHR versions. The timeliness of your organization's upgrade should be driven by the regulatory requirements of your reporting programs.
If you are not able to complete the 21C upgrade before January 1, 2023, you must ensure that you are on a version of Prime Suite or Intergy that supports the minimum data capture requirements for the 2023 regulatory reporting programs. Prime Suite v18.30 SP 2 or Intergy v12.55 or higher are these versions.
View additional FAQs related specifically to your Greenway Health solution by logging in to My Greenway.
“My staff and I have come to rely on Greenway Health’s expertise when it comes to 21st Century Cures concerns, and they help us stay informed ahead of the curve with what’s to come, as the requirements can be a complicated topic."
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