What Is the Information Blocking Rule?

Want to better understand what the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC) Information Blocking Rule (IBR) is, how it works and why we need it? In this episode of the Faegre Drinker on Law and Technology Podcast, host Jason G. Weiss sits down with Faegre Drinker partners Jeff Ganiban and Doriann Cain, and associate Alex Eschenroeder to discuss all things IBR.

Expected in September 2022, the final draft of the HHS Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) first IBR enforcement rule is aimed at two of the three actor types defined in the IBR: Health IT Developers of Certified Health IT and Health Information Networks / Health Information Exchanges. Under the Cures Act, each IBR violation by a Health IT Developer of Certified Health IT or Health Information Network / Health Information Exchange would be subject to penalties of up to $1 million. The expected rule will establish how the OIG intends to assess and enforce these penalties. (Unfortunately, there is still no guidance on when we can expect a rule regarding the penalties that will apply to IBR violations by Health Care Providers.)

The conversation tackles a number of questions, including:

• Starting at the beginning, what is the point of the Information Blocking Rule?
• What actually constitutes “Electronic Health Information” and how does it apply to the IBR?
• What constitutes a technical “violation” of the IBR and how will people in the health care field know if they are inadvertently violating the IBR?
• What are some of the legal exceptions to the implementation of the IBR, and why were these exceptions carved out?
• How does the IBR intersect and work with the HIPAA rules?
• As the IBR deals with Electronic Health Information, what happens and how does the IBR come into play if a patient wants their entire medical record?