21st Century Cures Act: One Year Later

The 21st Century Cures Act was enacted last December. It includes provisions to encourage the interoperability of electronic health records. Specifically, the Cures Act will define interoperability and create a framework for a “common agreement” between parties who want to exchange health information. In August, Surescripts shared our view of interoperability and provided the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) with our comments on the common agreement, based on our 16 years of experience exchanging health information through the Surescripts network. Our letter outlines two specific beliefs:

• We believe the government has an important role to play in identifying and enforcing consistent standards for health information exchange.
• We also believe that the common agreement should encourage innovation and competition. 

To learn more about our views on the 21st Century Cures Act, please read our letter to ONC.