NASL and our colleagues from the LTPAC Health IT Collaborative gathered for our 14^th Annual LTPAC Health IT Summit this week. NASL helps to plan the Summit each year, to include securing speakers. So, NASL Director of Policy & Membership Donna Doneski introduced - for the first time at the Summit - the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Don Rucker, MD. Dr. Rucker shared insights about the direction of health IT policy and the intersection of clinical, technology and business. His remarks echoed what we've heard from HHS Secretary Azar and CMS Adminstrator Seema Verma - the federal government is serious about advancing interoperability now.

If you missed it, here are a few take-aways on the 2018 Summit from the Collaborative members. This year, we heard several optimistic discussions and presentations centering on some key areas ranging from Interoperability and value-based care to risk sharing and the importance of analytics. NASL member companies and other health IT vendors spoke about the readiness to deliver interoperability and the collaboration between acute and LTPAC on data needed for exchange. We also heard about how electronic, standards-based data is crucial to be a player in value-based care. Many of the speakers talked about the increasing awareness of, and willingness to integrate social services into healthcare and how LTPAC’s “sweet spot” could be managing the social determinants of health. We also learned about risk-sharing and new partnership models that will require the use of analytics to manage more opportunities for LTPAC providers to take on risk.

Following the keynote by Director and Chief Medical Officer for CMS’ Center for Clinical Standards & Quality Kate Goodrich, MD, NASL Executive Vice President Cynthia Morton led an advocacy panel discussion about how Collaborative members from AANAC, AMDA, CHIME and LeadingAge are addressing the shift toward value-based, not volume-based care and the role that health IT plays in succeeding in the new marketplace. A quick look at NASL’s Twitter feed will tell you more about the topics covered during the LTPAC Health IT Summit. For the first time at the Summit, we heard from the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Don Rucker, MD. As NASL members learned from our Winter Conference, Dr. Rucker understands the clinical, technical and business worlds and the intersection of those forces with federal health IT policy. In his keynote, Dr. Rucker shared that health IT is enabling new entrants into the business, new business models, new competition and new efficiencies. NASL has promised to follow up with Dr. Rucker as ONC continues its work to advance interoperability.

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