Dive Brief:
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The Office of Inspector General (OIG) selected “National Health IT Week" to issue a reminder to the public about how information blocking could impact safe harbor protection under the federal anti-kickback statute.
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The alert highlights arrangements involving software or IT being provided to a referral source should be scrutinized for compliance, and EHR safe harbor conditions forbid information blocking, in which the technology donor limits the recipient's use.
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The alert states safe harbor protection requires donated software be interoperable and notes laboratories are no longer potentially protected.
Dive Insight:
The OIG's alert on information blocking follows previous federal focus on the issue, including the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT saying it is "increasingly concerned about these practices," as Healthcare IT News reports.
The ONC warned Congress earlier this year the issue is projected to become even "more pronounced" in the future and noted 60 unsolicited reports of potential information blocking last year.
The OIG states it remains committed to investigating arrangements that claim to meet the conditions of the EHR safe harbor but do not. "OIG continues to encourage the public to report instances when a donor (or someone on their behalf) acts to limit the interoperability of donated items or services," the alert states.
In order to report arrangements that potentially violate the federal anti-kickback statute, the public is asked to contact OIG’s hotline at 1–800–HHS–TIPS or go to https://forms.oig.hhs.gov/hotlineoperations/.