Federal Policy
HHS Finalizes Health IT Rule Cutting 14 Certification Criteria
HHS finalized the HTI-5 rule Oct. 26, eliminating 14 of 60 federal health IT certification criteria and revising seven others, including removal of AI model-card transparency requirements for decision-support tools. The rule takes a narrower approach than the December 2025 proposal, which sought to eliminate 34 criteria. HHS projects $1.55 billion in present-value regulatory cost savings and $108.1 million in annualized savings starting in 2027. The rule publishes in the Federal Register Oct. 28, with most provisions effective 60 days later, some changes effective Jan. 1, 2027, and transitions-of-care requirement removals effective Jan. 1, 2030. Proposed changes to information blocking regulations remain unresolved and under review.
Why it mattersHealth IT developers and the healthcare organizations, including Medicaid providers and plans, that rely on certified EHR systems face reduced compliance burden but also diminished transparency into AI-driven clinical decision-support tools embedded in their technology.