GAO: HHS needs to improve EHRs in post-acute settings

HHS needs to up its efforts to promote EHR use and electronic information exchange in post-acute care settings like skilled nursing facilities and long-term care hospitals, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report.

For the report, GAO interviewed 20 relevant stakeholder groups, including EHR experts, vendors and professional organizations. These interviews emphasized the importance of five factors that impact the use of EHRs in post-acute care settings: cost, implementation of standards, workflow disruption, technological challenges and staffing.

The implementation of EHRs is important, since sharing electronic health information can improve quality and reduce costs for patients in these settings. However, at present, HHS has not done its due diligence to measure the effectiveness of its current efforts, nor has it developed a long-term plan to promote EHRs in post-acute care settings, according to the report.

"Without a comprehensive plan to address these issues, HHS risks not achieving its goal of increasing EHR use and the electronic exchange of health information in post-acute care settings," according to the report.

Click here to view the full report.

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