New CHARTS Act Looks to Enhance Electronic Health Records for Seniors

WASHINGTON—Newly introduced legislation aims to establish a grant program to help home health providers and nursing homes adopt electronic health records.

U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO), introduced the Connecting Health and Records Technology for Seniors (CHARTS) Act, legislation to help long-term and post-acute care providers modernize patient record systems, improve care coordination and ensure America’s seniors receive safer, more connected healthcare.

When Congress passed the HITECH Act of 2009, hospitals and physician practices received federal incentives to adopt electronic health records (EHRs). Long-term care providers, including skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and home health agencies, were largely left out. As a result, Cleaver said many facilities caring for older Americans have had to rely on outdated systems that make it more difficult to share patient information, coordinate care between providers and participate in today’s increasingly data-driven healthcare system.

“Healthcare doesn’t stop when a patient leaves the hospital, and neither should access to their medical records,” said Cleaver. “Too many seniors experience fragmented care simply because the providers caring for them don’t have the tools to communicate effectively with one another. Whether someone is transitioning from a hospital to a rehabilitation facility, a nursing home or receiving care at home, their health information should move with them. The CHARTS Act is a commonsense investment that will improve care, reduce unnecessary costs and give healthcare professionals more time to focus on what matters most: their patients.”

The CHARTS Act would establish a competitive pilot grant program through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to help long-term and post-acute care providers purchase and implement electronic health record systems.

Specifically, the CHARTS Act would:

• Authorize $5 million annually in fiscal year 2027 and fiscal year 2028 for competitive grants to eligible providers
• Award grants of up to $500,000 to help providers purchase and implement electronic health record systems
• Improve communication and real-time information sharing between hospitals, nursing facilities, home health agencies, physicians and other healthcare providers
• Support better care coordination, reduce duplicative services, strengthen medication management and improve clinical decision-making
• Require HHS to report back to Congress on how the program improves patient outcomes and recommend whether the initiative should be expanded
   

Full text of the bill here.