The federal government hopes to put an end to the practice of information blocking by financially penalizing developers and removing incentives for providers, according to Anesthesia Business Consultants President and CEO Tony Mira.
With this in mind, Mr. Mira advised anesthesia providers to watch for signs of information blocking, which is "the deliberate and unreasonable interference with the exchange and use of electronic health information."
Potential warning signs:
1. Cost-prohibitive fees for exchanging EHI
2. Policies or contracts that limit EHR sharing among patients or providers
3. Falsely referencing the HIPAA Privacy Rule as a reason for not sharing information
4. Providers or vendors discouraging the spread of information to other providers or system users
5. Technology designed to hinder information exchange
6. Patients or providers being forced to use a particular certain tool due to lack of portability