Interoperability trends for 2023 and beyond
With CMS doubling down on its efforts to accelerate interoperability adoption with the Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule of 2021, health information is becoming more available to patients and providers as patients move through the care continuum.
This means interoperability will not only be about the ability to share data between systems, but it will also be about the ability to share data between all care stakeholders: medical professionals, patients, family members, and other non-medical care team members. When we achieve true interoperability, patient outcomes improve, healthcare costs are reduced, and the patient experience improves.
To better grasp the current state of interoperability among post-acute care (PAC) providers and what’s to come, we commissioned a series of independent studies among 300 operational and clinical leaders within home health and hospice organizations and 130 physicians and care providers who typically refer patients to PAC providers.
Interoperability advancements are trending in 2023
Interoperability is becoming increasingly important in post-acute care for many reasons, but perhaps the biggest source of urgency comes from the growing adoption of value-based care payment arrangements. The research tells us that:
- 65% of referring entities surveyed reported greater than 25% of their revenue is now tied to value-based care arrangements.
- 51% expect that percentage to grow over the next 12-18 months.
Because accurate and timely electronic data can help reduce costly complications, referring entities appear to have greater confidence in PAC providers who have more advanced interoperability and patient engagement capabilities:
- 99% of referring entities reported that they are likely to change to PAC providers who can support their interoperability needs, such as accepting electronic referrals. This is up year-over-year, growing from 60% in 2019 and 76% in 2021.
- 96% of referring entities reported that they are likely to send more referrals to PAC providers who have more advanced patient engagement capabilities, demonstrating the value of providers being able to make use of the data.
The future of interoperability
While PAC providers are mostly using emails (39%) and phone calls (29%) to track down necessary documentation — which can lead to delays in care services and payments — these providers appear to recognize the importance and value of having advanced engagement technologies, as 60% say they intend to invest in more advanced patient and care team member engagement technologies in the near future.
They also understand the tangible benefits of having advanced interoperability capabilities. When asked an open-ended question about the biggest benefits of having more advanced interoperability capabilities, responders most often mentioned:
- Ease of sharing important data across disciplines and care teams
- Streamlined processes/greater efficiencies across the organization and referral networks
- Faster response times and signatures on important documentation
- Better patient and partner service
- More accurate information for better patient safety and outcomes
- Less paperwork and more automated workflows
Going forward, PAC providers will likely be resetting their expectations and investing in solutions that help them send and receive all types of data between systems and make the data more accessible to both medical and non-medical care team members.
Simply put, the next decade will be about enabling the right information to be made available to the right individuals, when and where care is needed.
Request a demo with MatrixCare today to see how our EHR technology can help ensure your organization doesn’t get left behind in this new era of care.
Nick Knowlton
Nick Knowlton is the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for ResMed, parent company of Brightree and MatrixCare. He leads the company’s interoperability initiatives, amongst other areas. Nick brings more than 20 years of business experience across sales, marketing, product and strategy roles for technology and health information technology businesses. Prior to joining the ResMed family of brands, Nick ran strategic initiatives for Greenway Health, a market leader in the physician practice EHR space.
Nick is extremely active in the post-acute industry -- he is the chair of the board of directors of CommonWell Health Alliance and is on the board of HCTAA and PDHCA, which are affiliates of NAHC.
Nick has a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Biochemistry from the University of Notre Dame.
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