Two Percent of Acute Care and Long-Term Post-Acute Care Providers Are Using IT-Only Driven Strategies to Coordinate Patient Care And Transfer Data

TORONTO, Aug. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- PointClickCare, the leading cloud-based software vendor for the long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) and senior living markets, announced today the results of its 2019 Patient Transition Study, conducted in partnership with Definitive Healthcare. Respondents, including c-suite executives from acute and post-acute care facilities, provided input on data sharing, concerns about interoperability, and other pressing pain points in care delivery and coordination in a blinded, voice-of-customer quantitative study.

Among other things, the research indicates:

• 36 percent of acute care providers use manual-only strategies to coordinate patient transitions with the LTPAC community, compared with only 7 percent of LTPACs with acute care providers
• Approximately 62 percent of post-acute care facilities rely on phone calls between case-workers to transfer patient information and other clinical details
• Only 11 percent of acute care providers use an integrated EHR
• More than one-third (36 percent) of acute care providers do not track patients after they are transferred to a post acute care provider
• Only two percent of acute care and LTPAC providers are using IT-driven strategies only to coordinate patient care and transfer data

“Our healthcare system is approaching a critical time in which the ‘silver tsunami’ will drive baby boomers into hospitals and post-acute care facilities in record numbers. Combined with the nursing shortage, razor thin margins, the need to reduce hospital readmissions, and increased government regulations are all creating the need for technology that can deliver best practices for improving patient care,” says B.J. Boyle, vice president and general manager of post-acute insights at PointClickCare.

“We live in a siloed healthcare system where communication among hospitals and their skilled nursing partners is neither standardized nor coordinated,” says B.J. Boyle, vice president and general manager of post-acute insights at PointClickCare. “Unfortunately, it’s common for patients to be transferred from one setting without the necessary infrastructure in place to ensure that these transitions will result in positive outcomes for patients. The goal of our research is to better understand the types of technology used during transitions of care, as well as the challenges and opportunities that said technology presents for providers to improve processes and patient care.”

Additional survey takeaways include:

Acute Care Perspective: Phone & fax still dominate data
Driven by acute-care providers, patient coordination between acute-care and long-term post-acute care facilities largely remains manual. Manual methods are inefficient and are prone to mistakes, mismatched details, and omissions. Results suggest many challenges for the acute care industry and potentially dangerous scenarios for patients when transitioning care.

“Sending a patient to a facility that doesn’t have a good intake process is a reflection on us,” said one hospital CIO. And, when patients have to be readmitted, the paperwork problem happens in reverse, with emergency department personnel relying on paper instead of complete information about care provided at the post-acute care facility and the reasons for the transfer.

Providers who rely on manual processes to share data:

• 46% – acute care providers
• 18% – post-acute care providers

Providers who rely on email/fax to share data:

• 49% – acute care providers
• 31% – post-acute care providers

Providers who have manual-only strategies to coordinate patient transitions

• 36% – acute care providers
• 7% – post-acute care providers

Providers who use a combination of IT and manual processes

• 56% – acute care providers
• 84% – post-acute care providers

Interoperability Issues: Incomplete patient data, financial impact, and security are top concerns
As more value-based reimbursement reforms affect both the acute-care and long-term post-acute care markets, patient data-sharing between the two is increasingly important for improving outcomes and reducing readmission rates. Streamlining interoperability between systems creates huge opportunities for cost reduction, patient care improvement and reduced workloads for people on both ends of patient transfers.

Interoperability challenges present above-average financial challenges

• 61% – acute care providers agree
• 50% – post-acute care providers agree

Organizations that are putting a higher priority on implementing interoperable systems for transferring patients

• 73% – acute care providers
• 64% – post-acute care providers

Organizations that have “very little” ability to access or share patient data electronically

• 52% – acute care providers
• 24% – post-acute care providers

Serving the Individual Patient at Scale: Sharing complete data in real-time safely and securely
As patients move from acute-care facilities to LTPACs, the sharing of critical patient information and associated data is extremely important for coordinating care. But despite best efforts and intentions, many providers still aren’t sharing all patient data and information.

One local hospital “uses faxes to accommodate HIPAA and be confidential,” said one LTPAC CEO, forcing a manual method that stymies coordination. “Almost everything we touch is obtuse. You have to search it out, figure it out, and confirm it by phone,” adding that the absence of standardized forms and data-entry fields makes faxes especially inefficient.

Acute-care providers share ‘very little’ (7%) or ‘some’ (35%) patient data with their post-acute care partners

Only 16% of acute-care providers report sharing ‘all’ patient data

Most acute-care providers share only the most critical data points

• 98% share only medication information
• 89% share demographic and diagnostic data

Key elements that can be critical to coordinating care are still missing

• 58% Measurements and observations
• 55% Advanced care planning information
• 45% Location and patient status information

PointClickCare’s research comes at a time when skilled-nursing facilities (SNFs) are preparing for the impending patient-driven payment model (PDPM) deadline in October, which will shift reimbursement to a value-based model. With an inability to coordinate data from acute care providers to their existing electronic health records (EHRs), LTPACs will be increasingly unable to deliver the type of care mandated by CMS, which will certainly negatively impact the opportunity reimbursement and patient health outcomes.

About the PointClickCare 2019 Patient Transition Study
PointClickCare commissioned a blinded, voice-of-customer quantitative study focused on both acute and post-acute providers. It was conducted online by Definitive Healthcare from March 26 to April 22, 2019. A balanced mix of 100+ respondents (CEOs, CIOs, CMOs and additional c-suite titles) from both acute and post-acute care settings were targeted to uncover and highlight the pressing issues surrounding the patient and patient data transition process between the two provider settings. The results were weighted to equally represent input from both settings. For more information or to share your input, visit https://resources.pointclickcare.com/ebooks/patient-transition-study-technology-use-during-transitions-of-care.

About PointClickCare Technologies
PointClickCare Technologies Inc. empowers acute and post-acute care providers with the insights necessary for a fully coordinated and collaborative approach to care delivery. With access to the largest post-acute care data cloud in North America, PointClickCare partners can instantly locate patients within their care network, access patient timelines across the care continuum, view and filter data from care partners, and ensure patient data is being shared during transitions and beyond. Recognized by Forbes as one of the Top 100 Private Cloud Companies and acknowledged by KLAS Research as Best in KLAS Vendor for Long-term Care, PointClickCare leads the way in creating cloud-based environments where providers, patients, and payers eliminate data silos between care settings, connecting stakeholders to meaningful insights. With a suite of fully-integrated applications powered by an interoperable, mobile friendly, and regulatory-compliant electronic health record and revenue cycle management platform, PointClickCare helps care providers connect and collaborate within their care network. Over 17,000 skilled nursing facilities, senior living communities, and home health agencies use PointClickCare today, making it the North American healthcare IT market leader for the acute and post-acute industry. For more information on PointClickCare’s software solutions, please visit www.pointclickcare.com.

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SOURCE PointClickCare Technologies Inc.