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Studies have shown that patients who read their notes understand more about their health, take their medications as prescribed more often and feel more in control of their care.

The big news in the world of Health IT today is ONCs announcement of the Cures Act Final rule which includes some delays to the information blocking and health IT certification requirements.

The Office for Civil Rights is here to help you understand your civil rights and right to the privacy of your health information in a variety of languages.

The panel put into words what many HIM and Health IT professionals have known intrinsically that compliance with HIPAA doesnt necessarily equate to being a trustworthy organization. Trust means so much more than how you treat healthcare data. According to the panel, trust is the most important form of patient currency right now and without that, healthcare organizations cannot grow.

Wherever the new date might be moved, it will eventually arrive. In the meantime, those covered by the rules healthcare providers, developers of certified health IT, health information networks and health information exchanges should continue to prepare, he said.

Information Blocking:Immediate Release of Resultsand Notes2020-0918,CT Linon behalf of Physician Informatics, CMO council, Legal, Compliance and HIMExecutive Summary:On November2, 2020,federal rules willrequireimmediately releasingprovider daily progress notes (bothinpatient and outpatient),andalllaboratory,radiology, pathologyreportsto the patient via My Health Connection.Background:Patients have had the right to requestand viewtheir entire medical record since 1970.The Information Blockingstatute within the 21stCentury CURES actencodes this in federalrules andrequires immediate release.UCHealth already releasesoutpatient, emergency, urgent careprogress notesandhospital discharge summaries.Labresults, plain filmX-rayandultrasoundresultsare also releasedimmediately to patients.Wedodelay releaseof some results, thus some categories that do not meet thefederalstandard.Our patients love seeing their notesand results inMy Health Connectionpatient portal.Over 70% of ourcontinuitypatients(800,000) are online.UCHealth current settingsfor releasingresults and notes, related to Information Blocking.All delayed results will be changed to immediate release as of November 2, 2020

Current clinical notes often attempt to check off many requirements related to reimbursement: documentation of current medications, documentation of organ system review, documentation of test results, documentation of fulfillment of performance measures, and, somewhere in the mix, an assessment and plan. Social history is often relegated to simply updating smoking status.

But as Blease and colleagues point out in their article (1), the cloak that effectively covers many notes will be lifted on 2 November 2020, when the 21st Century Cures Act is implemented and patients are to have ready access to their medical record, including the clinical notes (2). …

Financial Support: Dr. Blease is a John F. Keane & Family Visiting Scholar at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Ms. Walker, Dr. DesRoches, and Dr. Delbanco receive financial support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Cambia Health Foundation, and Commonwealth Fund of New York. The funders had no role in designing or preparing the manuscript or in deciding to submit it for publication.

I also spent hours coordinating between his cancer doctors and the team taking care of him in the hospital. I requested that his records descriptions of his surgery and pathology reports be sent to his cancer team. When their opinions contradicted those of the physicians on site, I helped my dad make his own informed decisions. I repeatedly reminded him that his care is his choice, even though it often feels like doctors call the shots.

However, the authors argued, the narrative really should be shifted to the fact that providers routinely and legally share health data electronically under HIPAA, whether or not their organizations retains HIPAA responsibility. Sharing with patients and patients third-party apps is consistent and should be just as routine, they stated.