Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced legislation that, if passed, would improve health information sharing among home health, long-term care and post-acute care providers.
The bill, called the Connecting Health and Records Technology for Seniors (CHARTS) Act, aims to ease the burden of implementing electronic health records for healthcare agencies through grants of up to $500,000 distributed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to providers.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-MO) introduced the CHARTS Act on Wednesday. The bill would create a $5 million grant pool annually in fiscal years 2027 and 2028 to strengthen communication and information sharing between healthcare providers, including hospitals, home health agencies, nursing facilities and physicians.
“Too many seniors experience fragmented care simply because the providers caring for them don’t have the tools to communicate effectively with one another,” Cleaver said in a statement. “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.”
If enacted, recipients of CHARTS Act grants would have a three-year award period.
The CHARTS Act intends to support better care coordination through fewer duplicative services, bolstered medication management and improved clinical decision-making, according to Cleaver‘s office.
The bill would require HHS to report to Congress on how patient outcomes improve through the program and if it should be expanded. It would also mandate HHS to describe whether improving health information technology led to reduced patient falls, rehospitalizations and Medicare expenditures no later than six years after the bill’s enactment, the legislation reads.
Many healthcare providers still use outmoded health information systems, however, costing the healthcare industry an estimated $8.3 billion per year.
Congress has previously attempted to improve electronic health records for hospitals and physician clinics through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which passed into law in February 2009. According to Cleaver’s office, HITECH excluded home health providers.