Heard at the 2014 LTPAC Health IT Summit

Couldn't get to the Long-Term and Post-Acute Care Health IT Summit in Baltmore? Now in its 10th year, this summit gathers the key thinkers and early adopters of health information technology (IT) in the long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) spaces—tackling the present and planning for the future. Below are some of the sentiments, suggestions and strategies heard amid the educational sessions, workgroups and hallways at this year’s conference.

VOICES FROM THE LTPAC-HIT SUMMIT:

"Fifteen years ago, one of my first tasks was bringing email to my company. That shows you how far we've come in the past 15 years. Every change in business practices or processes comes with an expectation or requirement for technology." —Rich Castor, CIO, Genesis Healthcare, CIO Consortium

"Changing the assumption: Connected care with smart technology is the emerging norm, not the exception." —Tweet by Larry Wolf, Health IT Strategist, Kindred Healthcare

"The ACO [accountable care organization] program is like the PACE [Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly] program on steroids." —John Derr, RPh, consultant and co-founder of the LTPAC HIT Collaborative

"The regulatory environment for telehealth, mHealth and remote monitoring is completely out of sync with the technology we have today." —Rich Brennan, Jr., vice president for technology policy, National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHCH)

On timely data-sharing: "We've had hospitals striving to provide the CCD [continuity of care document] within one day after discharge. But what are we supposed to do with that patient for that day?" —Doron Gutkind, chief software architect, LINTECH

"We've been challenged to justify our IT expenses. Your CFO and COO need projects that demonstrate value, not just altruistic transformation." —Michael Weiner, DO, MSM, MSIST, director of healthcare strategic services, IBM

"IT should be consumer-facing and a marketing differentiator, not seen as a back-office function." —Ryan Frederick, founder and principal, Point Forward Solutions

"Clinical functions used to be on the back burner of IT consideration, but now they're the key to reimbursement." —Debbie Jones, RN, LNHA, CEO, New Beginnings Care; CIO Consortium and Nurse Executive Council

"We have some control over days 1-60. But what do we do on Day 61? Longitudinal care is a state of patient engagement toward wellness." —John Derr, RPh, consultant and co-founder of the LTPAC HIT Collaborative

On the initiative to join nursing workflow and EHR functionality: "When we started [our initiatives], people would say, 'Why do we need to worry about the post-acute care sector? They have maybe three computers and it's mostly just custodial care.' We had a lot of educating to do." —Rich Castor, CIO, Genesis Healthcare; CIO Consortium

"Congress has discovered post-acute care now." —Cynthia Morton, MPA, executive vice president, National Association for the Support of Long Term Care (NASL)

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.