21st century cures act

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In a significant ruling among the first to analyze the application of information blocking regulations, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a preliminary injunction against an EHR company in favor of a diagnostic analytics services company. The injunction grants the analytics company access to patient data, enabling the company to provide its analytics services to nursing facility customers who use the EHR vendor’s services.

The case, Real Time Medical Systems, Inc. v. PointClickCare Technologies, Inc., No. 24-1773 (4th Cir. 3/12/25), arises out of claims by Real Time Medical Systems, Inc. (“Real Time”) that PointClickCare Technologies, Inc. (“PCC”) implemented a technical protocol that cut-off Real Time’s appropriate access to its customers’ electronic health information (“EHI”) and that PCC did not implement this protocol for legitimate security or performance reasons as PCC claimed, but rather to interfere with Real Time’s business so that PCC could capture Real Time’s market share with its own competing analytics products.Continue Reading Information blocking victory in favor of access to health data

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released earlier this year the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), which is intended to improve electronic interoperability among health information networks (HINs) and facilitate the exchange of health information among connected organizations. 

Importantly, TEFCA is not just about HINs.  Under TEFCA, any organization that connects to a HIN designated as a Qualified HIN (QHIN) may be able to meet many interoperability and information sharing obligations without implementing technology integrations on a request-by-request basis.  ONC believes that TEFCA will “reduce the need for duplicative network connectivity interfaces, which are costly, complex to create and maintain, and an inefficient use of provider and health IT developer resources.” ONC stated that connected organizations “will be able to share information with all other connected entities regardless of which QHIN they choose.” 

However, participation in TEFCA comes with a price.  Organizations that connect to QHINs, either directly or indirectly, will likely need to agree to new contractual requirements that flow-down from QHINs.Continue Reading ONC’s Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA): Impacts on Health Information Networks and Health Care Organizations