Final Regulatory Rule Issued For Electronic Health Records

The Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has issued final safe-harbor regulations for payments and business practices related to electronic health records. Some of these payments and practices would otherwise implicate the federal anti-kickback statute. EHR Intelligence reports that federal regulators have extended the safe harbor until Dec. 31, 2021, with three goals: to incentivize the adoption of EHRs, align the date on which the safe harbor will sunset along with the ending of incentives for the meaningful use of such EHRs, and to provide protection against “'foreseeable future fraud risks.'”