Some post-acute care websites are tapping into national online networks to receive timely and comprehensive information about possible residents. Others are hoping something useful comes out of their fax machine before they receive a resident they can’t care for.
Although more and more skilled nursing operators are prioritizing interoperability and crucial data exchange, such as up-to-date health records, there are still plenty of facilities around the United States where this process needs to improve, health-tech experts argued during a panel discussion Wednesday.
The virtual panel, entitled “Bridging the gap: Tech-powered care transition strategies,” highlighted the need for tighter government policies to ensure national standards for getting information between points of care. The panel was part of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News’ Spring Online Expo held Wednesday.
Ensuring easy data exchange is a particular challenge for skilled nursing facilities, the panelists said, where staff members often are receiving residents or patients coming directly from a hospital setting, with complex treatment and medication regimens.
The panelists also highlighted a common scenario where an older adult moves across the country to a post-acute care facility to be closer to family members, highlighting the need for healthcare data to easily move through networks and geography.
“[They are] dealing with the most vulnerable patients,” said Holly Miller, MD, chief medical officer for MedAllies, about SNFs. “Numerous medical conditions. Them being able to review that in advance and accept or decline a patient based on their ability to care for a patient is crucial.”
Facilitating technology solutions for interoperability remains “underrepresented” at the policy level, argued Chris Pugliese, director of product interoperability for ResMed.
“There is nothing explicitly enforced for post-acute care providers,” Pugliese said. “The wide array of tech solutions available don’t always fit or apply to solve problems. Or they’re not priced or targeted to the right providers.”
Almost all post-acute and ambulatory providers for older adults – 99% – said they want more effective interoperability solutions, according to a recent survey conducted by MatrixCare, which sponsored the webinar and was the Gold sponsor of the Online Expo.
Miller highlighted the recent Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement, or TEFCA, which was established at the end of last year as an “onramp to national interoperability.”
The TEFCA governance, overseen by the US Department of Health and Human Services, allows the agency to designate qualified health information networks, or QHINs, which can freely exchange healthcare data nationally. Currently there are seven healthcare systems-designated QHINs.
Among the provisions in the TEFCA agreement is that the networks must provide a minimum level of documentation, including care summaries, that providers can access.
Replays of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News’ Spring Online Expo webinars and other McKnight’s webinars are available for viewing for free for 12 months.
