4 steps toward interoperability success

No matter an organization’s size or its care setting, post-acute care providers across the country have one thing in common: the need for interoperability. We’ll outline four steps you can take to lead your business down a path toward interoperability success.

1. Evaluate your capabilities.

Unless you have an accurate view of your existing capabilities, you cannot develop or implement interoperable systems. Your EHR vendor can help you evaluate your current state, including assessing business processes and how data moves within and across your organization. Once you have this picture, you can redesign processes and implement technology tools to improve workflows and eliminate bottlenecks in information flows.

It’s also important to identify systems that are due—or overdue—for upgrades and to prioritize those projects. This is an opportunity to phase in new systems that support interoperability over time.

2. Understand the financial implications of interoperability versus no interoperability.

Since you’ll either invest in an interoperability strategy or keep conducting business as usual, you should understand the financial implications of both paths. The lack of interoperability in post-acute care contributes to higher care delivery costs, as well as added time spent charting in separate systems.

Other factors to consider are the costs associated with staff turnover if team members become frustrated with the additional work associated with using outdated systems, and costs in terms of referral partners potentially choosing other providers who offer interoperability.

3. Leverage your interoperability strategy to differentiate your business.

Interoperability is more than simply accepting data into your system, and it’s more than just requesting patient information electronically to provide better care. It also includes being able to communicate back to your referral sources and other providers with whom patients have encounters.

Surveys have shown that referring providers are willing to switch which post-acute organizations they work with based on their interoperability capabilities. Watch what your referral sources are doing and be ready to start the conversation about interoperability and how it can drive value for both of your organizations. Help referral partners understand the value of platforms like CommonWell, which allows information exchange without having to set up a special process. Make sure they’re aware of new mandates such as the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) and how Qualified Health Information Networks (QHINs) can help the industry achieve greater interoperability, enhance data security and make exchanging health information easier to support better outcomes.

Being up to date on innovations that promote the adoption of interoperable solutions helps differentiate you in the eyes of your referral partners.

4. Stay up to date with the organizations creating and enforcing standards.

While everyone keeps an eye on CMS, it’s also important to be aware of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (NCHIT). This group sets standards for certified EHR systems, hospitals and physician practices on how to meet incentives. When NCHIT releases rules that affect referral sources, it gives you an opportunity to add tools to handle the new standard. Even if new rules don’t directly apply to your care setting, it’s important to be informed as rules evolve so you can work more effectively with referring providers.

TEFCA also continues to evolve, as demonstrated by recent rules about information blocking and updates to the Common Agreement. Keeping up to date on changes relevant to you and your referral partners can be a helpful way to continue and expand conversations around interoperability tools that can benefit everyone involved.

Take the first step

Although the need for interoperability is clear, many organizations are still behind in implementing interoperable systems. MatrixCare is ready to help you enable data accessibility through an interoperable approach to healthcare. In fact, we are a TEFCA pioneer: one of our SNF customers participated in the first TEFCA EHR exchange with Epic in March 2024. Our platforms can help you achieve interoperability using multiple methods to connect to as many organizations as possible.