Regulatory and Health Industry
Cures Act Interim Final Rule Compliance Timelines
Read more about the extension at the Journal of AHIMA. Additionally, the October 2020 issue of the Journal of AHIMA featured a collection of articles that discussed implementing the information blocking and interoperability final rules.
| Provision | Final Rule Compliance date | Enforcement Discretion-April 21, 2020 | Interim Final Rule Compliance date |
| Information Blocking Applicability Date (Part 171) | November 2, 2020 | No Change | April 5, 2021 |
| Conditions of Certification—Information Blocking (§170.401) | November 2, 2020 | September 30, 2020 | April 5, 2021 |
| Conditions of Certification-Assurances (§170.402(a)(1) (will not take any actions that constitute information blocking or actions that inhibit access, exchange or use of electronic health information (EHI)) | November 2, 2020 | September 30, 2020 | April 5, 2021 |
| Conditions of Certification-assurances (§170.402(a)(2) and (3), and (b)(1))—Other | Effective date: June 30, 2020 | September 30, 2020 | April 5, 2021 |
| Conditions of Certification—Communications—(§170.403)—Communications requirements (does not include for §170.403(b)(1)) | Effective date: June 30, 2020 | September 30, 2020 | April 5, 2021 |
| Conditions of Certification—API (§170.404(b)(4)—Compliance for current API criteria | November 2, 2020 | February 2, 2021 | April 5, 2021 |
| Conditions of Certification—API (§170.404(b)(3))—Rollout of new standardized API functionality | May 2, 2022 | August 1, 2022 | Dec 31, 2022 |
| Conditions of Certification—Real World Testing—2015 Ed health IT certification criteria with standards updates | May 2, 2022 | 3 months after compliance timeframe | Dec 31, 2022 |
| Conditions of Certification—EHI export rollout—(§170.402(b)(2) | May 1, 2023 | 3 months after compliance timeframe | Dec 31, 2023 |
| Conditions of Certification—Assurances—(§170.402(a)(4) | May 1, 2023 | 3 months after compliance timeframe | Dec 31, 2023 |
| Conditions of Certification—Communications—(§170.403(b)(1)) —-Notice to all customers with which developer has contracts or agreements containing provisions that contravene Communications Conditions of Certification | Annually beginning in CY2020 | Notice can be made until March 31, 2021 for CY20 | Begin annual cycle 1 year later CY 2021 |
| Conditions of Certification Initial Attestations—(§170.406) | April 1-30, 2021 attestation window for attestation period running June 30, 2020-March 31, 2021 | Generally remains the same except for the initial attestation, which will be accepted through July 30, 2021 | Begin annual cycle 1 year later, CY2022. First attestation window will cover from effective date of final rule-March 31, 2022 |
| Conditions of Certification Real World Testing—(§170,405(b)(1) and (2) submit initial plan and initial results submission | Plan: December 15, 2020
Results: March 15, 2022 |
Initial plan: Initial real world testing plans may be submitted through March 15, 2021
Initial results: Initial real world testing results from 2021 performance year may be submitted through June 2022 |
Begin annual cycle 1 year later
Initial plan: Dec 15, 2021
Initial results: March 15, 2023 |
| Definition of EHI constrained to US Core for Data Interoperability (USCDI) v1 | November 2, 2020-May 1, 2021 | April 5, 2021-October 5, 2022 | |
| Full definition of EHI | May 2, 2021 | October 6, 2022 | |
| Common Clinical Data Set (CCDS) permissibility in health IT modules | 24 months after publication date of final rule | December 31, 2022 |
2015 Edition Certification Criteria Update
ONC’s Interim Final Rule also extended the timeline for certain 2015 certification criteria. Below are the revised timelines for the criteria.
| Certification criteria | Reference | Interim Final Rule Compliance Date | Impact on CMS Promoting Interoperability Measures |
| Transitions of Care | §170.315(b)(1) | Update to adopted USCDI/C-CDA companion guide by December 31, 2022 | -Support Electronic Referral Loops by Sending Health Information
-Support Electronic Referral Loops by Receiving and Incorporating Health Information |
| Clinical information reconciliation and incorporation | §170.315(b)(2) | Update to adopted USCDI/C-CDA companion guide by December 31, 2022 | -Support Electronic Referral Loops by Receiving and Incorporating Health Information |
| Electronic prescribing | §170.315(b)(3) | Update to adopted NCPDP SCRIPT standard version 2017071 by December 31, 2022 | -e-Prescribing
-Query of PDMP |
| Data export | §170.315(b)(6) | ONC-ACBs may only issue certificates for this criterion for the period before December 31, 2023 | -Removed from 2015 Edition Base EHR definition effective date of the final rule (60 days after publication) |
| Security tags—summary of care—send | §170.315(b)(7) | Document, section, and entry (data element) level; or Document level for the period before December 31, 2022 | |
| Security tags—summary of care—receive | §170.315(b)(8) | Document, section, and entry (data element) level; or Document level for the period before December 31, 2022 | |
| Care plan | §170.315(b)(9) | Update to C-CDA companion guide reference in §170.205(a)(4) and §170.205(a)(5) by December 31, 2022 | |
| EHI export | §170.315(b)(10) | Certify to new criterion by December 31, 2023 | |
| Clinical quality measures (CQMs)—report | §170.315(c)(3) | Update to CMS QRDA Category I/III IG by December 31, 2022 | PI Programs |
| Auditable events and tamper resistance | §170.315(d)(2) | Update to ASTM 2147-18 standard by December 31, 2022 | |
| Audit report(s) | §170.315(d)(3) | Update to ASTM 2147-18 standard by December 31, 2022 | |
| Auditing actions on health information | §170.315(d)(10) | Update to ASTM 2147-18 standard by December 31, 2022 | |
| View, Download, and Transmit to 3rd party | §170.315(e)(1) | Update to USCDI v1 and C-CDA companion guide referenced in §170.205(a)(4), and §170.205(a)(5) by December 31, 2022 | Provide Patients Electronic Access to Their Health Information |
| Transmission to public health agencies—electronic case reporting | §170.315(f)(5) | Update to USCDI v1 by December 31, 2022 | Electronic Case Reporting |
| Consolidated CDA creation performance | §170.315(g)(6) | Update to USCDI v1 and C-CDA companion guide referenced in §170.205(a)(4), and §170.205(a)(5) by December 31, 2022 | |
| Application Access—Data Category Request | §170.315(g)(8) | ONC-ACBs may only issue certificates for this criterion for the period before December 31, 2022 | Provide Patients Electronic Access to Their Health Information |
| Application Access—All Data Request | §170.315(g)(9) | Update to USCDI v1 and C-CDA companion guide referenced in §170.205(a)(4), and §170.205(a)(5) by December 31, 2022 | Provide Patients Electronic Access to Their Health Information |
| Standardized API for patient and population services | §170.315(g)(10) | Certify to new criterion by December 31, 2022 | -Added to the 2015 Edition Base EHR definition
-Provide Patients Electronic Access to Their Health Information |
This information was last updated 10/20/2020.