FAQ #4 - Patient Access Guidelines
Healthcare Interoperability FAQ Series
FAQ #4: When do the new CMS compliance guidelines for patient access come into effect?
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Transcript
The new CMS compliance guidelines for patient access to their information, comes into effect in 2022. The original deadline was April 2022. And there has been some adjustment to that, as a result of COVID. The providers are obviously facing some challenges, being consumed with a number of operational challenges associated with COVID and the demands on their systems. But the bottom line is, by December, end of December 2022, the guidelines are expected to be met.
And what does that mean? The patient will have the ability to access their health information using any application, mobile app of their choice and without any cost, using any system from where they reside. So, a provider who has a local system or an EHR system or vendor provider solution, health plan payers and so on; everybody is accountable under this new rule, this new ONC’s Cures Act Final Rule. The idea is that these organizations can no longer silo this information or not make it accessible to their patients.