The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced its proposed new rules during the first day of the annual Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference to “support seamless and secure access, exchange and use of electronic health information.”

According to the release supporting the announcements, the rules, issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), are designed to increase “choice and competition” while “fostering innovation that promotes patient access to and control over their health information.”

The proposed ONC rule would require that patient electronic access to this electronic health information (EHI) be made available at no cost. Further, those who block information from flowing into patient hands will be publically listed in a humiliation effort.

“These proposed rules strive to bring the nation’s healthcare system one step closer to a point where patients and clinicians have the access they need to all of a patient’s health information, helping them in making better choices about care and treatment,” said HHS secretary Alex Azar in a statement.

“By outlining specific requirements about electronic health information, we will be able to help patients, their caregivers, and providers securely access and share health information. These steps forward for health IT are essential to building a healthcare system that pays for value rather than procedures, especially through empowering patients as consumers.”

In 2018, CMS finalized regulations that use potential payment reductions for hospitals and clinicians in order to encourage providers to improve patient access to their electronic health information.

Now, CMS is proposing requirements that Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicare Advantage plans and Qualified Health Plans in the federally facilitated exchanges must provide enrollees with immediate electronic access to medical claims and other health information electronically by 2020.

CMS Administrator Seema Verma said, “By requiring health insurers to share their information in an accessible format by 2020, 125 million patients will have access to their health claims information electronically. This unprecedented step toward a healthcare future where patients are able to obtain and share their health data, securely and privately, with just a few clicks, is just the beginning of a digital data revolution that truly empowers American patients.”

ONC said its proposed rule promotes secure and more immediate access to health information for patients, their healthcare providers and paves the way for new tools allowing for more choice in care and treatment. The proposed rule also implements the information blocking provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act, including identifying reasonable and necessary activities that do not constitute information blocking.

“By supporting secure access of electronic health information and strongly discouraging information blocking, the proposed rule supports the bipartisan 21^st Century Cures Act. The rule would support patients accessing and sharing their electronic health information, while giving them the tools to shop for and coordinate their own healthcare,” said Don Rucker, M.D., National Coordinator for Health IT.

“We encourage everyone — patients, patient advocates, healthcare providers, health IT developers, health information networks, application innovators, and anyone else interested in the interoperability and transparency of health information — to share their comments on the proposed rule we posted today.”

Following the release of its proposed new rules members of leadership from CMS hosted a call to provide additional detail about the proposed rule and to answer questions from the media. The following includes the key takeaways from the officials hosting the call.

According to Verma, the proposed rules ensure patients have access to their records in digital format. She said CMS is “unleashing” data for research and innovation while tackling what might be the greatest healthcare challenge in our history, including the potential upcoming healthcare cost crisis that could destroy the U.S. economy.

She also said that CMS is doubling down by requiring health plans to release claims data. All health plans in Medicare, Medicaid and that have plans within the federal exchange must allow for information be shared so patients can take their records with them when they move on and is putting an end to information blocking and will publicly identify doctors, hospitals and others who engage in information blocking.

This rule allows patients to aggregate their data in one place through APIs/apps — putting the data in one place to help them understand it. They can organize the information, create care reminders, take data for the next provider when they go to a new provider, she said. This allows for aggregation of data in one place; physicians no longer need to duplicate tests, for example.