Monday, September 12, 2011

The 2011 Long-Term and Post-Acute Care HIT Summit

On June 13 and 14, the Long-Term and Post-Acute (LTPAC) Health Information Technology (HIT) Summit took place in Baltimore, MD, discussing key issues and solutions regarding health information technology (HIT). The conference consisted of roughly 300 post-acute and long-term care (LTC) professionals from the health information management (HIM) field. The conference also held an exhibit of the industry’s leading vendors, including LINTECH.

The summit served as an educational tool, a resource and a means of support as the health care industry experiences a rapid transition. Particular areas of concentration included the healthcare stimulus and the opportunities for post-acute and long-term care, HIT initiatives, electronic health record (EHR) certification and implementation, and case studies regarding the latest LTC solutions. Industry experts and speakers provided the necessary guidance to ensure successful EHR implementation within their organizations.

Jim Walker, the chief medical information officer of Geisinger Health Systems and HIT Standards Committee member, discussed Long-Term and Post-Acute Care in 2020, concentrating on the direction of healthcare and the impact of technology.

Claudia Williams, Director of the State Health Information Exchange Program for the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT, spoke about policy priorities for the agency and resources to support LTPAC adoption of health IT.

Sean Cavinaugh from the new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center addressed the significance and initiatives in advancing new models of care in order to achieve the "triple aim" goal. The three components of the triple aim include care, health and cost. This is an attempt to improve the experience of care, improve the health of the population and reduce the cost of healthcare.

Other industry leaders discussed topics including health information exchange initiatives, transition of care priorities and quality resident reporting.

Retrieve Resident Medical Records Anywhere with HIE

Accessing and retrieving clinical data in a convenient and timely manner is crucial in the healthcare industry, particularly in long term care environments where residents need immediate and continuous care. This can become time consuming as the unaffiliated provider may require a detailed background of the resident’s health, including current medications, previous surgeries, allergies and so forth. But, with Health Information Exchange (HIE) organizations, healthcare providers (such as acute care facilities) can electronically receive a resident's medical records from other healthcare providers (such as nursing homes).

HIE allows nursing home staff to electronically move clinical information among various healthcare information systems. With the ability to access and retrieve clinical data, HIE leads to safer, fast and more effective care for nursing home residents. The electronic system allows a facility to access a resident's information including allergies, prescriptions, medical history, and even the results of a medical exam. In addition, HIE improves resident care and safety, reduces the likelihood of duplicate services, cuts costs by allowing automation of administrative tasks, and provides management in the exchange of data. HIE also allows for electronic prescribing, electronic lab ordering and results delivery, and electronic public health reporting.

In order to provide a more structured and organized function for exchanging healthcare information, formal organizations are continuously developing on an independent and regional level. The Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIO) is a health information organization that brings together various organizations from specific geographically defined areas to share and exchange healthcare-related information electronically.

RHIO helps residents in various situations. For example, if the resident is sent to the emergency room but cannot remember what medication he or she is taking, the doctor can retrieve this information from the RHIO. Also, with RHIO, the resident can avoid taking lab tests as often since a doctor can receive his or her test results from the RHIO.

The HIE and RHIO provide LTC solutions to nursing home residents.