Policy/Regulation Fact Sheet

Policy/Regulation Fact Sheet

21st Century Cures Act

After being passed by Congress in December 2016 and signed into law by President Obama the following month, the 21st Century Cures Act has become a life-changing law. Once all of its provisions are considered, the Act addresses various issues, including expanding disease prevention research, expediting the development of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, strengthening mental health services, and combating the opioid epidemic. Several elements in the Act are geared toward increasing the use of electronic health records and human services programs and improving interoperability between the various systems (Gabay, 2017). The law must emphasize patient access, data availability, and usability to effectively promote health information technology.

Impact of the 21st Century Cures Act on system implementation

The 21st Century Cures Act has had a considerable impact on the installation of medical devices in the United States and abroad. As part of its goal to make it easier for people to access, transfer, and use data, the Act establishes technological criteria for electronic health records and service providers (Hudson & Collins, 2017). Efforts have been taken to ensure that all electronic health information can be accessed, communicated, and used without trouble in the context of interoperability. The interoperability of health information systems is required in order to be safeguarded from information blockage, as stipulated by the legislation in place. As a result of the new law, patients will have more access to electronic data, and they will be able to exercise complete control over their health information. Improving health outcomes, lowering healthcare costs, and increasing patient satisfaction with care can all be accomplished by making it easier for systems to communicate and share data.

Impact of the Act on Clinical Care, Patient/Provider Interactions, and Workflow

As a result of the Act, healthcare providers will access crucial patient information more swiftly and efficiently. Administrative and regulatory restrictions on electronic health records have been lifted, making it easier to access and use these records in the future. Consequently, healthcare professionals may be better able to obtain the information they require to make informed decisions about patient care due to this development (Gabay, 2017). The possibility of healthcare providers making mistakes when entering patient information into electronic medical record systems has been eliminated. As a result of the law, which provides individuals access to their electronic health records, patients will be able to improve the quality of their health outcomes. On the other hand, data interoperability streamlines the flow of information across health information technology systems and care settings. Therefore, when healthcare professionals want to connect across healthcare systems, no information is lost during the translation process.

Organizational Policies and Procedures

Healthcare organizations must adopt specific regulations and processes under the 21st Century Cures Act to fully address the problem. As part of its compliance obligations, the corporation must train its employees to use the health information system by current legislation correctly. They must be aware of the procedures for reporting and documenting events so that they are comfortable with them when they occur. The confidentiality and security of patient information are also challenging to deal with effectively. It is the company's responsibility to put safeguards in place to protect the information included in the health information system. One approach to preventing data breaches is through the use of encryption. A part of the organization's routine operating procedures and practices should include keeping an eye on the database for any unusual behavior unnoticed under normal conditions. As a result, the organization should have facilities for monitoring the security of application code (Kesselheim & Avorn, J2017). String passwords and two-factor authentication, in addition to other security measures, can help to keep patient information safe from unauthorized access. 

References

Gabay, M. (2017). 21st Century Cures Act. Hospital Pharmacy, 52(4), 264-265. https://doi.org/10.1310/hpx5204-264

Hudson, K. L., & Collins, F. S. (2017). The 21st Century Cures Act — A view from the NIH. New England Journal of Medicine, 376(2), 111-113. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmp1615745

Kesselheim, A. S., & Avorn, J. (2017). New “21st century cures” legislation. JAMA, 317(6), 581. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.20640