Leveling the Playing Field: The First Step Towards True Interoperability

Leveling the playing field for post-acute care: Enabling interoperability with minimal tech investment

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023

While the long-awaited goal of interoperability seems to be advancing for EHR-equipped care providers, the idea of enabling health equity across the care spectrum seems untenable for post-acute care facilities without similar technological capabilities.

Early this year, the Office of National Coordinator approved the first six qualified health information network (QHIN) candidates to implement the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) to support the interoperability of health records.

Over nearly two decades, the federal government and the healthcare industry have spent billions to implement electronic health records in physician practices and hospitals. But government incentives under Meaningful Use did not extend to post-acute care providers. These providers often rely on paper documents for transfer and discharge, papers that can get lost or misplaced and compromise patient care.

Every patient — regardless of age, race, sex, location, and non-medical social determinants of health (SDOH) — deserves the same access to quality care. Likewise, every care setting, including post-acute care and skilled nursing facilities, needs the same access to secure patient health information in order to provide equal care.

But as interoperability marches on, many post-acute care providers are being left behind.

Rather than more regulation, post-acute providers need technology that allows them to easily exchange digital documentation and information with other healthcare providers as well as food banks, social workers, charitable housing associations, and other community providers.