Interoperability between hospitals and nursing homes remains a major challenge, according to a new survey.
For years, skilled nursing facility have focused on smoothing transitions and cutting down on unnecessary hospitalizations, plus reducing readmissions. But only 60% of hospitals say that their electronic health records incorporate data from long-term care facilities, according to the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME).
“Exchange of discrete data with home health and skilled nursing facilities is lagging,” according to the annual Most Wired survey, which the the chief information officers organization released on Wednesday.
SNFs are also behind in the offering telehealth, compared to their counterparts, CHIME noted. Less than 10% allow their residents to connect for a consultation, stroke care or psychiatric exam onsite, compared to more than 40% on the hospital side. About 89% of hospital professionals polled said they were using some form of virtual visits in their practices.
“Outside of the hospital or physician office, access to telehealth services is limited,” the report states, citing reimbursement and regulatory barriers that are preventing full adoption of these technologies. In a sign of progress on this front, federal officials recently announced plans to allow Medicare Advantage insurers to pay for telehealth services that weren’t previously covered.
The annual survey, previously conducted by the American Hospital Association, gathered its info by polling more than 600 information technology professionals in the hospital field.
