{"id":22741,"date":"2022-12-15T14:37:45","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T19:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthit-gov.go-vip.net\/buzz-blog\/?p=22741"},"modified":"2026-01-17T21:36:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T21:36:06","slug":"not-so-hidden-gems-in-the-21st-century-cures-act-final-rule-get-to-know-the-conditions-of-certification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/healthit-certification\/not-so-hidden-gems-in-the-21st-century-cures-act-final-rule-get-to-know-the-conditions-of-certification\/","title":{"rendered":"Not-So-Hidden Gems in the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule: Get to Know the Conditions of Certification"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, the information blocking regulations are important, but let\u2019s not forget that the 21st<\/sup> Century Cures Act (Cures Act) and our implementing regulations (Cures Act Final Rule) had a few other impactful provisions. In particular, certain changes to the ONC Health IT Certification Program may seem like \u201cmore of the same\u201d for health IT developers, but in reality they are really important and beneficial to clinicians, researchers, and the public alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two new education resources are now available specifically geared toward these audiences to describe \u201cwhat the rule says\u201d and what those regulatory requirements \u201cmean\u201d from the perspective of those who interact with developers of certified health IT and use their products. These resources are simplified, paraphrased descriptions of two of the Cures Act Final Rule\u2019s Conditions of Certification to help orient, inform, and activate. They include the \u201cCommunications<\/a>\u201d and application programming interface (\u201cAPI\u201d)<\/a> Conditions of Certification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clinical users should know that developers of certified API technology are required under the API Condition of Certification to follow specific business practices. For instance, you can engage with whomever you want regarding the use of certified API technology without needing to first seek the developer\u2019s permission. Similarly, third-party app developers – did you know that under the API Condition of Certification, developers of certified API technology are required to publish (among other transparency requirements) a full disclosure of the fees that would apply to the use of certified API technology?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along those same lines, the Communications Condition of Certification specifically covers the types of communications that can be made about certified health IT, such as disclosing screenshots and video. This Condition of Certification set limits on the ways in which developers of certified health IT could restrict how you communicate certain information about their certified product(s).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two new \u201cExplained!\u201d resources can be found on ONC\u2019s Health IT Certification Program\u2019s resources page<\/a> and, as always, if you have questions regarding information blocking, please check out HealthIT.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t get me wrong, the information blocking regulations are important, but let\u2019s not forget that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":619,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_selected_menu":"","_show_breadcrumbs":"true","_blog_show_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"archived-category":[],"featured":[],"topics":[429,476,477,425,430,449],"class_list":["post-22741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-healthit-certification","topics-certification-program-rules","topics-funding-opportunities","topics-grants-cooperative-agreements","topics-hit-policy","topics-information-blocking-rules","topics-resources"],"acf":{"blog_authors":[{"blog_author_profiles":"193024"}],"hp_news_hide":false},"yoast_head":"\nNot-So-Hidden Gems in the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule: Get to Know the Conditions of Certification - ONC Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore new educational resources outlining key provisions of the Cures Act Final Rule, focusing on API and Communications Certification for health IT developers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/healthit-certification\/not-so-hidden-gems-in-the-21st-century-cures-act-final-rule-get-to-know-the-conditions-of-certification\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Not-So-Hidden Gems in the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule: Get to Know the Conditions of Certification\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore new educational resources outlining key provisions of the Cures Act Final Rule, focusing on API and Communications Certification for health IT developers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/healthit-certification\/not-so-hidden-gems-in-the-21st-century-cures-act-final-rule-get-to-know-the-conditions-of-certification\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ONC Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-15T19:37:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-17T21:36:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/08\/ONC.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"sleigh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sleigh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/healthit-certification\/not-so-hidden-gems-in-the-21st-century-cures-act-final-rule-get-to-know-the-conditions-of-certification\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/healthit-certification\/not-so-hidden-gems-in-the-21st-century-cures-act-final-rule-get-to-know-the-conditions-of-certification\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"sleigh\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0719592fcc77f0e269f191216da0aae7\"},\"headline\":\"Not-So-Hidden Gems in the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule: Get to Know the Conditions of Certification\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-15T19:37:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-17T21:36:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/healthit-certification\/not-so-hidden-gems-in-the-21st-century-cures-act-final-rule-get-to-know-the-conditions-of-certification\/\"},\"wordCount\":352,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Health IT Certification\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/healthit-certification\/not-so-hidden-gems-in-the-21st-century-cures-act-final-rule-get-to-know-the-conditions-of-certification\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/healthit-certification\/not-so-hidden-gems-in-the-21st-century-cures-act-final-rule-get-to-know-the-conditions-of-certification\/\",\"name\":\"Not-So-Hidden Gems in the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule: Get to Know the Conditions of Certification - 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