A survey released by MatrixCare that collected data from 300 home-based care providers and 100 referring physicians revealed continued interoperability gaps in post-acute care (PAC) settings. 74% of referring providers indicated they are likely to change post-acute partners to those they believe can more effectively process electronic referrals, up from 64% from a similar study conducted in 2019. 86% of providers who send their patients to skilled nursing facilities (SNF) are not satisfied with their SNF providers’ ability to receive electronic data, even though 94% of providers ranked it as a top factor when determining where to send their patients. This data demonstrates the growing need for providers to expand interoperability, especially during the pandemic where advanced capabilities for patient data exchange has become increasingly important.
While almost 100% of acute and ambulatory care providers have adopted electronic health record (EHR) systems that facilitate the exchange of data, PAC providers are behind in their transition to EHR systems because they did not receive the same federal funding incentives as acute and ambulatory care providers. These providers are facing multiple barriers to interoperability including competing priorities, limited investment dollars, and the uncertainty of the long-term effects of the pandemic.