Department of HHS Announces Cures Act Extension: What It Means for You

What is the 21^st Century Cures Act?

The Cures Act was signed in 2016 by Barack Obama and entails numerous initiatives including drug and medical device development, initiatives to fight the opioid crisis, mental health service delivery, and interoperability of medical IT systems.

“The final rule supports the use of modern-day technology to meet the needs of patients and providers. For example, the rule sets in place new provisions for certified health IT developers who now will be required to establish a secure, standards-based API for use by providers and to support a patient’s access to core data in their electronic health record.”

Why is there a date extension?

Mandates within the Cures Act about Interoperability were to be implemented starting November 2^nd, 2020, but there were many concerns from lawmakers, medical professionals and organizations that due to the heavy burden of the Coronavirus Pandemic on IT workloads and the digital transformation it forced onto the healthcare industry, it was decided that compliance to these provisions of the Cures Act would not be feasible at this time.

The Department of Health and Human Services updated the timetable for compliance with a 5-month extension for the first wave of provisions. See the graph below for the updated timeline.

What is Sharecare’s Involvement with the 2021 Cures Act Implementation?

Sharecare is an innovative healthcare technology company who is proactive in staying up to date with all changes in the healthcare ecosystem, particularly with many of the regulatory requirements that impact our customers. Our team is dedicated to understanding how the 21^st Century Cures Act will impact our customers and partners. We do this by educating ourselves to provide you with the best products and solutions on the market.

Sharecare is an active member of the Association of Health Information Outsourcing Services (AHIOS) and works with the organization to improve the quality of service provided to patients and partners.  Our company participates in thought leader publications and meetings to advance the organizations charter to promoting excellence in the handling and fulfillment of confidential patient-identifiable information.

21^st Century Cures Act: Concerns and How to Move Forward

Recently the Sharecare team surveyed the market to understand concerns regarding the 21^st Century Cures Act and what it means for Interoperability.

What did the survey tell us? 

The three most important issues are compliance planning, avoiding Information blocking and implementing a solution with minimal disruption to the job of providing healthcare to patients. We are starting a blog series addressing each of the concerns mentioned in our survey.

Ready to learn more about Sharecare’s Healthcare Data Service options to increase efficiency, reduce workload and our data exchange and interoperability?