What is Information Blocking and Why Does It Matter?

On Monday, Nov. 2, new regulations will go into effect giving patients greater access to and control over their health care data.

The regulations also include new requirements related to information blocking. Information blocking is doing things that are likely to interfere with, prevent or discourage access, exchange or use of electronic health information. At Carilion, we must ensure we are not doing anything that would interfere with patients getting access to their health care data.

To get ready for the upcoming changes, all employees have been assigned education in Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD) that must be completed by Monday, Nov. 9. The online course provides an overview of information blocking and the upcoming changes. It takes just 5 minutes to complete.

In the coming weeks, we'll have more information available about this topic as we develop new processes for patients to request information and begin releasing additional information to patients through MyChart.

For more information, please contact Kari Spradlin, Health Information Management, at kpspradlin@carilionclinic.org.