Application programming interfaces (APIs) are powerful tools that help support interoperability in healthcare. Simply put, APIs allow a software “Application A” to interact with a software “Application B” without Application A needing to know how Application B’s software is designed internally. APIs can be used for several things, including the ability to for software applications to share information. From the example above, Application A could request information from Application B or ask Application B to place a pushpin on a map at a specific longitude and latitude.

On Monday, March 9th 2020, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released the long awaited final rule to address information blocking and update the ONC Health IT Certification Program as directed by Congress through the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 (the Cures Act).

Today, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) announced the release of the 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program Final Rule, which implements provisions from the 21st Century Cures Act passed by Congress. We thank Congress for the passage of the Cures Act and we look forward to implementing the final rule, which promotes patient access to their electronic health information, supports provider needs,