AHCA joins efforts to improve post-acute access to eHealth technology
By Todd Bergstrom | November 10, 2023 | All members
The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) recently joined two efforts to improve access for post-acute providers to eHealth technologies and interoperability.
- AHCA/NCAL has co-signed a comment letter to the House Ways & Means Committee in response to a request for information (RFI) on improving access to health care in rural and underserved areas
- AHCA/NCAL also co-signed another comment letter through the same coalition to the House Budget Committee in response to a separate RFI on solutions to improve patient outcomes and reduce health spending
The two comment letters, representing nine long-term and post-acute care advocacy organizations emphasized that a comprehensive federal support strategy is necessary to ensure interoperability of health information technology (HIT) and data exchange and sharing across the care continuum, including technological functionality to improve quality of care, patient safety, and infection control—particularly in rural America.
The rate of adoption and use of interoperable HIT among long-term post-acute care (LTPAC) providers lags far behind acute and ambulatory care providers. While current technology gaps and inconsistencies in adoption for these settings make it difficult to obtain a complete analysis, the full extent with which technology, such as electronic health records (EHRs) and electronic clinical surveillance technology (ECST), could be used to rein in costs has clearly not yet been realized.
Legislative recommendations for necessary HIT Improvements in LTPAC settings offered in both letters included the following:
- Provide funding for LTPAC providers to adopt interoperable HIT with a focus on patient care and safety, including infection control and prevention
- Direct funding to the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) to ensure proper bidirectional interoperability between acute care (e.g., hospitals and physicians), LTPAC providers, and other ancillary providers (e.g., therapy, pharmacy, etc.); resources would support the implementation, use, and sustainability of interoperable EHRs, infection, and ECST
Please contact Todd Bergstrom at the Association office if you have any questions.
Todd Bergstrom | Director of Research and Data Analysis |
tbergstrom@careproviders.org | 952-851-2486