HHS Must Improve Planning and Evaluation of EHR Use in Post-acute Care Settings, Says GAO

​Although the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has promoted the use of electronic health records (EHRs) in post-acute care settings, HHS has no means of measuring the effectiveness of its promotion efforts and lacks a comprehensive plan to meet its goal of increasing EHR usage, according to a January 2017 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. Experts on EHRs in post-acute care settings say five key factors affect the use of EHRs: cost, implementation of standards, workflow disruptions, technological challenges, and staffing. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology plans to survey providers in post-acute settings for baseline data on EHR adoption rates.