To prevent actions that block the exchange of health information, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) and the Quality Payment Program final rule with comment period require MIPS eligible clinicians to show that they have not knowingly and willfully limited or restricted the compatibility or interoperability of their certified electronic health record (EHR) technology. MIPS eligible clinicians show that they are meeting this requirement by attesting to three statements about how they implement and use certified EHR technology (CEHRT). Together, these three statements are referred to as the “Prevention of Information Blocking Attestation.”
Do I Have to Attest?
If you are a MIPS eligible clinician who reports on the advancing care information performance category you must attest to the prevention of information blocking attestation. If you are reporting as a group, the prevention of information blocking attestation by the group applies to all MIPS eligible clinicians within the group. Therefore, if one MIPS eligible clinician in the group fails to meet the requirements of the Prevention of Information Blocking Attestation, then the whole group would fail to meet the requirement.
What Actions Are Required?
If you want to earn a score for the advancing care information performance category, you have to act in good faith when you implement and use your CEHRT to exchange electronic health information. This includes working with technology developers and others who build CEHRT to make sure the technology is used correctly and is connected (and enabled) to meet applicable standards and laws. You must also ensure that your organizational policies and workflows are enabled and do not restrict the CEHRT’s functionality in any way. For example, if your CEHRT gives patients access to their electronic health information or exchanges information with other MIPS eligible clinicians, your practice must use these capabilities.
Statements to Which I Am Attesting
- A MIPS eligible clinician must attest that they did not knowingly and willfully take action (such as to disable functionality) to limit or restrict the compatibility or interoperability of CEHRT. Statement 1 requires MIPS eligible clinicians to demonstrate that they did not knowingly and willfully take action to limit or restrict the compatibility or interoperability of CEHRT.
- A MIPS eligible clinician must attest that they implemented technologies, standards, policies, practices, and agreements reasonably calculated to ensure, to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, that the CEHRT was, at all relevant times
- Connected in accordance with applicable law;
- Compliant with all standards applicable to the exchange of information, including the standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria adopted at 45 CFR Part 170;
- Implemented in a manner that allowed for timely access by patients to their electronic health information (including the ability to view, download, and transmit this information);
- Implemented in a manner that allowed for the timely, secure, and trusted bidirectional exchange of structured electronic health information with other health care providers (as defined by 42 U.S.C. 300jj(3)), including unaffiliated providers, and with disparate CEHRT and health IT vendors.
- A MIPS eligible clinician must attest that they responded in good faith and in a timely manner to requests to retrieve or exchange electronic health information, including from patients, health care providers (as defined by 42 U.S.C. 300jj(3)), and other persons, regardless of the requestor’s affiliation or technology vendor.
Do I Have to Show Any Documentation to Attest?
You do not have to give us any documentation to show you have acted in good faith to:
- Implement and use your CEHRT to support the appropriate exchange of electronic health information.
- Not block information
Where Can I Learn More?