CHICAGO – Oct. 7, 2020 – The October issue of the Journal of AHIMA focuses on information blocking and interoperability, a timely topic as the ONC’s 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program and CMS’ Interoperability and Patient Access final rules take effect on November 2.

“These final rules will lead to improvements in health data access for patients, providers, health information professionals and anyone who relies on health information,” said AHIMA CEO Wylecia Wiggs Harris, PhD, CAE. “I’m proud the Journal of AHIMA’s October issue features necessary resources that inform and empower healthcare professionals as we enter this new era.”

In The Compliance Clock is Ticking on ONC’s 21st Century Cures Act Regulations, DeAnn Tucker, MHA, RHIA, CHPS, CCS, writes about the structure of the final rules, the stakeholders who will be affected, and how healthcare professionals should comply with the regulations. Drew Ivan writes in In the Post-COVID-19 World, Bidirectional Data Exchange Will Be More Important Than Ever about how pop-up testing sites and temporary clinics have exposed “the critical need for high-quality, high-bandwidth, robust, bidirectional data exchange.” Other articles include Federal Regulators Put Patients in the Driver’s Seat, Three Ways Analytics-Fueled Interoperability Is Crucial During COVID-19 and Beyond, and Forging Ahead with Interoperability Amid a Pandemic.

“It’s important to note complying with these regulations is not the end of a process, but the beginning of a new one,” Harris said. “Health information professionals will be leaders on the journey toward an interoperable, person-centered healthcare system.”

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About AHIMA
AHIMA is a global nonprofit association of health information (HI) professionals. AHIMA represents professionals who work with health data for more than one billion patient visits each year. AHIMA’s mission of empowering people to impact health drives our members and credentialed HI professionals to ensure that health information is accurate, complete, and available to patients and providers. Our leaders work at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and business, and are found in data integrity and information privacy job functions worldwide.