Understanding the Information Blocking Rule: Compliance & Exceptions

Date Recorded: Thursday, March 4, 2021 – Watch on YouTube

The HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)’s final rule on information blocking under the 21st Century Cures Act goes into effect on April 5, 2021. On and after that date, all medical practices, health information networks and exchanges, and EHR vendors will be subject to information blocking rules.

Information blocking is defined by the ONC as “a business, technical, and organizational practice that prevent or materially discourage the access, exchange or use of electronic health information (EHI) when an Actor knows, or should know, that these practices are likely to interfere with access, exchange, or use of EHI.”

This webinar provides:

  • An overview of what information blocking is, with examples.
  • A description of information blocking exceptions, with examples.
  • A discussion on how to outline a roadmap to compliance, including policy review, defining a reasonableness standard, and preparing staff to document compliance practices.

Speaker: Reza Ghafoorian, MD, JD is the founder of G2Z Law Group, PLLC, and a healthcare attorney. With over 10 years of experience, he counsels clients on health law and health care regulations, including, fraud and abuse, such as antikickback statutes and Stark Law, privacy and security, such as HIPAA and HITECH statutes, reimbursements, CMS appeals, and telemedicine/telehealth.

To download the slide deck for this webinar, with more resources on information blocking, click here.

Psychotherapy Notes Definition
During the webinar, an attendee asked about the definition of psychotherapy notes. The following is the definition provided by Dr. Ghafoorian as a follow-up.
Psychotherapy notes are: Notes recorded in any medium; By a health care provider who is a mental health professional; Documenting or analyzing the contents of conversation during a private counseling session or a group, joint, or family counseling session: That are separated from the rest of the patient’s medical record.
 
The definition specifically excludes: The modalities and frequencies of treatment furnished; Results of clinical tests; Any summary of the following items: diagnosis; functional status; the treatment plan; symptoms; prognosis and progress to date: Session start and stop times; and Medication prescription and monitoring.