HHS announces penalties for information blocking

The federal government is wants to crack down on information blocking by health care providers. Last week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a proposed rule that would allow the Office of the Inspector General to penalize providers who have engaged in information blocking. HHS defines information blocking as knowingly and unreasonably interfering with “the access, exchange, or use of electronic health information except as required by law or covered by a regulatory exception.” Eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) would not be recognized as meaningful EHR users during an applicable EHR reporting period. For eligible hospitals that would mean a loss of 75% of the annual market basked increase. CAHs would see their payments reduced from 101% to 100% of reasonable costs associated with program participation. While the amount of the disincentive would depend on the hospital’s Medicare payments, the proposed rule could result in a median disincentive of more than $393,000, they write.