The HHS Office of Inspector General released its final ruling on information blocking on June 27, stating that any individual or entity that commits information blocking could face up to a $1 million penalty.
Enforcement of this new rule will begin Sept. 1 and will affect health IT developers, entities offering certified health IT, health information exchanges and health information networks, according to the ruling.
The organization will investigate information blocking cases that fall into the following categories:
- Those that resulted in, are causing or had the potential to cause patient harm
- Cases that impacted a provider's ability to care for patients
- Cases that cause financial loss to federal healthcare programs, government or private entities
- Cases that were performed with actual knowledge