Study: The new age of interoperability in home health and hospice

Interoperability is ever-increasing and buzz is generating across the home health and hospice industry. To help organizations understand the importance of adopting tools built to meet — and even exceed — interoperability expectations, we’ve conducted a survey to help determine whether post-acute (PAC) providers are progressing fast enough to keep up with the growing demand for efficient and secure information exchange.

This commissioned series of independent studies surveyed 300 operational and clinical leaders within home health and hospice organizations, 130 physicians and other care providers who refer patients to PAC providers. In this blog, we’ll highlight some key results.

99% of referring entities said they would likely send more referrals to PAC providers who were more capable of receiving orders electronically.

Being able to exchange data is a fundamental premise of successful value-based care models, because without accurate and timely electronic data, the risk of costly complications dramatically increases. As a result, referring entities appear to have greater confidence in PAC providers who have more advanced interoperability and patient engagement capabilities. This is up from 60% just a few years ago, a clear sign that referring providers believe interoperability is of growing importance.

Only 39% of PAC providers say their organizations have advanced their interoperability capabilities over the past 12 months.

PAC providers are demonstrating progress against their referral source expectations, even as those expectations continue to rise among referring entities and consumers. But there is still much work to be done. The most commonly cited reasons for the lack of progress include the lack of progress their EHR system has made and lack of resources and time to invest in interoperability. These barriers are similar to those reported in 2021, which included cost, time and difficulties interfacing disparate systems.

68% of PAC providers would be very likely or somewhat likely to switch to an EHR system that could better support their most important interoperability needs.

PAC providers recognize the growing need for interoperability and are looking for the right solution. This number is up from previous years, which reported 48% in 2021, and 34% in 2019, demonstrating the growing pressure PAC providers are feeling when it comes to interoperability.

The importance of interoperability is clear. Referring providers are prioritizing it, smart PAC providers are adopting it, and patients are demanding it. Request a demo with MatrixCare today to see how our EHR technology can help ensure your organization doesn’t get left behind in this new era of care.