Maverick's Update

So many songs lament the money-is-a-constant-concern issue, but we prefer this one. It helps us understand how money permeates everything we do even though it shouldn’t, including forcing healthcare organizations to just do the right thing. Case in point: the HHS Office of Inspector General released its long-awaited enforcement rules for violations of the 21^st Century Cures Act prohibition of blocking the exchange of medical records. The rule is a stick-not-carrot approach to public policy.  The idea is to stop actors — including the ones involved in care for the then-Vice President’s son — from knowingly and repeatedly blocking health information that causes patients harm or otherwise keeps healthcare providers from getting the information they need about patients. Penalties can be eye-popping — as much as $1 million for each violation. To date, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has received several hundred complaints that healthcare providers or their electronic health record systems are blocking patient health information. The rule applies primarily to electronic health care record companies like Epic, but other entities that can be deemed a health information exchange may be investigated if they interfere with the flow of health information. We wonder just how many of Rob DeConti’s 120-person office of lawyers contributed to this rule, which reads more like a legal defense of why the federal government can engage in this sort of investigative and punitive activity. Wouldn’t it be great if it wasn’t about the money, money, money, but these industry players just did the right thing?