Long-Term and Post-Acute Care
As the U.S. population ages, the demand for long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) services is expected to grow. While LTPAC services are generally associated with the elderly, they can also include younger persons with disabilities, and range from institutional services provided in specialty hospitals and nursing homes to a variety of home and community based services. Health IT can create efficiencies across acute, post-acute, and long-term care settings that lead to reduced hospital readmissions, shorter stays, decreased costs, and improved health outcomes.
Health IT’s Impact on Long-Term Post-Acute Care
Adoption and Implementation
LTPAC providers are increasingly adopting health IT to improve continuity of care and care delivery. In 2017, ASTP/ONC published data on EHR adoption and interoperability in skilled nursing facilities.
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LTPAC Data Exchange
The CMS IMPACT Act of 2014 advances LTPAC data exchange by requiring the standardized collection and reporting of patient assessment data across care settings, promoting consistency and interoperability. The ONC Health IT Certification Program (2015 Edition) and the CMS Data Element Library support this effort by aligning certified health IT with national data standards and enabling access to interoperable clinical content.
RESOURCES
Medicaid HIE Federal Funding
There are opportunities through Medicaid to support states in their initiatives to expand interoperability and data sharing across settings.
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Education Module for Long-Term and Post-Acute Care
To help demonstrate the value of health IT, ASTP/ONC developed an educational module with resources and information for LTPAC providers. In addition, the ONC Health IT Playbook has implementation resources for LTPAC providers.
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Community-Based Services
As states continue to expand home and community-based alternatives to institutional long-term care, there is recognition in the value of sharing person-centered data to better integrate health care and humans services to support an individual’s independence and quality of life. Learn more about toolkits and standards work underway to advance these goals.
RESOURCES
Additional Resources
To provide the benefits patients need and to be useful in their care, Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms must be broadly accessible to all potential healthcare providers, including EMS, LTPAC, physician offices, assisted living facilities, palliative care, hospice, and others. As POLST orders must be immediately available to make emergency treatment decisions, this resource document focuses mainly on POLST form access and use by emergency care providers.
Electronic End-of-Life and Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Documentation Access through Health Information Exchange (HIE), July 2018.
Download POLST Resource [PDF – 1.1 MB]