The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing Tuesday on the 21st Century Cures Act to address a number of concerns relating to the law's implementation.
Under current law, the HHS inspector general is permitted to impose a fine up to $1 million per violation on entities that infringe upon information blocking provisions. However, ONC has yet to release rules on what constitutes information blocking.
Here are four highlights from the hearing.
1. James Cannatti, the HHS Office of Inspector General's senior counselor for health IT, testified on behalf of HHS.
"We are working to formalize processes for sharing complaints, referrals and other information relevant to information blocking enforcement efforts within HHS that build on existing efforts, where possible. These efforts are intended to ensure that we are prepared to leverage the new tools to curb information blocking," he said, according to written testimony.
2. ONC's Jon White, MD, wouldn't comment on the regulation since it is currently under development, according to Politico Morning eHealth newsletter.
"There's just not a specific date I can say at this time about when it will come out," Dr. White told Morning eHealth after the hearing.
3. Dr. White added that healthcare can expect a draft trusted exchange framework by the end of the year to help organizations implement health information exchange systems.
4. Despite the proposed $38 million in annual budget cuts, ONC remains confident it can fulfill all Cures' mandates, except the creation of an EHR reporting program, according to Morning eHealth.
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