Information Blocking Enforcement on the Horizon: Compliance Considerations Under the 21st Century Cures Act

• February 12, 2026

• Dennis Sapien-Pangindian

Since the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has slowly been implementing the information blocking provisions through a series of rulemaking. Through regulations issued by the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy / The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ASTP/ONC) and enforcement authority exercised by the Office of Inspector General for HHS (HHS-OIG), Congress has created a broad compliance framework that applies across the health care and life sciences ecosystem, including health care providers, health IT developers, and health information networks and exchanges. Now, it appears that ASTP/ONC and HHS-OIG are ready to operationalize enforcement of the information blocking provisions and affected actors would do well to calibrate their risk assessment and mitigation practices to account for this emerging risk area in fraud and abuse enforcement.

ARTICLE TAGS

• Fraud & Abuse Practice Group
• Fraud and Compliance
• Health Information