The 21st Century Cures Act was one of most significant healthcare bills passed during the presidency of Barack Obama. Among its primary objectives was to push the U.S. toward a fully connected healthcare environment. The Act contained a number of measures to help achieve this goal, including:
- Fines of up to $1 million for those found guilty of information blocking
- Encouraging healthcare providers to make it easier for patients to access their own medical records
- Reducing the amount of documentation required by healthcare providers, thereby alleviating a substantial administrative burden
- The establishment of an EHR Reporting Program that will evaluate the interoperability, security, and usability of EHR systems
- Tasking the Government Accountability Office with solving the issue of mismatched patient records
