- Simon Barr
HHS Proposes HTI-5 Rule to Deregulate Health IT and Reshape AI Interoperability Standards
This Top Stories report provides a concise summary of a recent HHS press release and related industry coverage on the proposed HTI-5 rule, which outlines significant changes to Health IT certification and AI interoperability standards. It highlights key provisions, regulatory shifts, and potential implications for payers, providers, and health IT developers.
HHS released the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability (HTI-5) proposed rule in late December 2025 with a comment period that closed February 27, 2026.
The rule proposes to eliminate 34 of 60 ONC Health IT certification criteria – nearly 60% – and revoke Biden-era requirements for AI transparency “model cards” disclosing algorithmic data sources.
The proposal would save health IT developers an estimated 1.4 million compliance hours industry-wide and redefines data “access” to explicitly include AI-driven automated processes. While the deregulatory posture reduces compliance costs for EHR vendors, payers and providers should track finalization closely, as rollback of AI transparency requirements shifts accountability for safe algorithm deployment to organizations themselves.
The AHA submitted comments on the rule prior to the close on Feb. 27th, 2026. [read the AHA comment letter]
Source: HHS Pressroom
Supplemental Sources: Sources: CMS, OIG, AHA, KFF Health News, and reputable healthcare trade publications.
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