HHS announces crackdown on providers failing to share radiology results, other info
Health and Human Services on Wednesday announced plans to crack down on providers failing to share imaging results or other key health information.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has directed the agency to increase resources dedicated to curbing the “harmful practice of information blocking.” The agency said it plans to take active enforcement action against healthcare entities that restrict patients’ access to radiology results and other health information.
Authorities said the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, along with the HHS inspector general, will lead the effort.
“We have already begun reviewing reports of information blocking against developers of certified health IT under the ONC Health IT Certification Program and are providing technical assistance to our colleagues at OIG for investigations,” Tom Keane, MD, MBA, an interventional radiologist appointed as national coordinator in June, said in a Sept. 3 statement from HHS.
Keane and colleagues are exercising authority gained through the 21st Century Cures Act, first passed in 2016. The rule requires that all healthcare organizations provide easy access to test results at no cost, among other provisions. Last year, HHS finalized new disincentives for physicians and others who prevent patients from viewing their health records. Certain hospitals could fail the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program for the year, if they deny patients access to their records. Plus, eligible providers in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) may receive a zero score under the “promoting interoperability” performance category, ACR reported last year.
HHS also noted that health IT developers—or those that meet the definition of a health information exchange—could face civil monetary penalties of up to $1 million per violation. The agency said Wednesday’s announcement serves as a “a warning to actors still engaging in information blocking.” It also urged physicians, payers and local health officials to report violations of the Cures Act.
“Providers and certain health IT entities have a legal duty to ensure that information flows where and when it’s needed,” Acting Inspector General Juliet T. Hodgkins said in the announcement. “HHS-OIG will deploy all available authorities to investigate and hold violators accountable.”
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.