The impact of interoperability with Nick Knowlton, vice president, strategic initiatives, ResMed and board chairman, CommonWell Health Alliance

Introduction

For this episode of the Post-Acute POV, our host Navin Gupta, SVP of the home and hospice division at MatrixCare, is joined by Nick Knowlton, vice president, strategic initiatives, ResMed, and board chairman, CommonWell Health Alliance, to explain the impact of interoperability.

Listen in as Nick and Navin review the findings from our recent survey which polled 100 health systems and physician groups, 300 home-based care organizations spanning home health, hospice, palliative care, and private duty, and for the first time, 300 skilled nursing facilities. The results show progress—yet significant gaps—and an opportunity for both home-based care providers and skilled nursing facilities to improve their electronic data-sharing capabilities.  

Questions to ask your technology provider to improve interoperability:

1. Does your system exist in the native workflow or outside of the solution?
2. Is the documentation your system provides only in a human readable format?
3. Can your system reconcile medications directly into the patient’s chart?
4. Can your system provide insight into mid-episode encounters patients are having?
5. How can your system help with PDGM or navigating palliative care programs?
6. How is your system able to communicate the quality of care back to referral sources both actively and passively?
7. Will your system work for my local geography and current referral source relationships?
8. Ask your vendors about the usual business questions too – Is there a high surcharge to connect? Is it part of my core software package? Is the value aligned with the cost?

Topics discussed during today’s episode:

1. [02:50 – 04:48]: What is interoperability and what problem does it solve?
2. [05:41 – 09:22]: The survey found that 95% of providers say they believe interoperability is crucial, compared to 34% in the previous year. Nick explains what he attributes this jump in better understanding the importance of interoperability to.
3. [11:36 – 14:13]: Nick describes why referring physicians are more likely than ever to switch partners to those who they believe can more effectively process electronic referrals.
4. [14:47 – 17:50]: Nick explains the four tiers of maturity in relation to interoperability: basic, moderate, advanced, and high-performing.
5. [18:54 – 20:43]: Nick talks about the types of conversations providers should be having with their technology partners if they are interested in improving interoperability. Note: The questions Nick provided are listed above.
6. [22:04 - 25:41]: How interoperability can help mitigate immediate workforce issues providers are facing.
7. [27:00 - 29:54]: How providers who are on the fence about interoperability can get started. Nick lists actionable steps providers can take today.

Resources

• Learn more about MatrixCare at: https://www.matrixcare.com/
• Find out more about our commitment to interoperability: https://www.matrixcare.com/interoperability/
• Download the survey report
• Read the transcript of today’s episode
• Listen to more episodes of the Post-Acute POV

Disclaimer

The content in this presentation or materials is for informational purposes only and is provided “as-is.” Information and views expressed herein, may change without notice. We encourage you to seek as appropriate, regulatory and legal advice on any of the matters covered in this presentation or materials.

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