60% of Referral Sources Would Switch to a Home Health and Hospice Provider that Accepts Electronic Referrals, Survey Reveals

Survey also finds only 4% of home health and hospice organizations are able to accept electronic referrals from a referral source EMR system

ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–$RMD #HealthIT–Brightree today announced results from the first-of-its-kind survey in post-acute care, revealing a significant gap between what referring providers and health systems want, and what home health and hospice providers are delivering, when it comes to interoperability.

The survey was conducted by Porter Research, and is the first to interview both home health and hospice providers (675 respondents) and their referral sources (440 respondents). It found that electronic referrals are high on the priority list:

• 70% of home health and hospice organizations reported an increase in the number of referral sources requesting referral data to be sent electronically over the past 1-2 years;
• 60% of referring providers said they would switch to a new post-acute care provider if that organization were able to accept electronic referrals; and
• Only 4% of home health and hospice organizations reported they were able to accept electronic referrals from a referral source (electronic medical record) EMR system.

This lack of automation and reliance on manual labor takes a toll on post-acute providers’ bottom lines. According to the survey findings, almost two-thirds of home health and hospice organizations require several full-time equivalents (FTEs) each month tracking down data and documents they feel could be obtained with better integration in place.

“Interoperability is no longer an option, but an essential aspect of any home health and hospice business,” said Nick Knowlton, Brightree vice president of strategic initiatives. “We were pleased to find users of our Brightree home health and hospice solution were among respondents reporting the highest ability to receive electronic referrals properly, but there’s still tremendous opportunity to continue bridging the gap.”

Many post-acute care providers are considering interoperability a business necessity. According to the survey:

• 30% of home health and hospice organizations said they are planning to expand their efforts into interoperability this year; and
• 31% claim they would even switch electronic health record (EHR) systems if they found one that could better support their interoperability needs.

Download the survey’s white paper and full results at http://info.brightree.com/SurveyPR.html

For more information on Brightree’s Home Health and Hospice EMR, now part of MatrixCare’s post-acute software suite, visit https://www.brightree.com/home-health-software/emr/

About MatrixCare

MatrixCare enables out-of-hospital care organizations to manage senior care more safely and securely. Current and multiyear winner of the “Best in KLAS” award for Long-Term Care Software, MatrixCare is trusted by more than 15,000 long-term, post-acute care (LTPAC) organizations across senior living, skilled nursing, life plan communities, accountable care organizations, home health, home care, and hospice, helping them connect and collaborate to keep America’s seniors healthy in the home or care setting of their choice. MatrixCare is a wholly owned subsidiary of ResMed (NYSE: RMD, ASX: RMD). To learn more, visit www.matrixcare.com and follow @MatrixCare on Twitter.

About Brightree

Brightree enables out-of-hospital care organizations to improve their business performance and deliver better health outcomes. As an industry-leading cloud-based healthcare IT company, Brightree provides solutions and services for thousands of organizations in home medical equipment and pharmacy, home health, hospice, orthotic and prosthetic, home infusion, and rehabilitation home care. Brightree is a wholly owned subsidiary of ResMed (NYSE: RMD, ASX: RMD). To learn more, visit www.brightree.com and follow @Brightree on Twitter.

Contacts

For media:

Jill Bongiorni

516.729.2250

jill@torchcomllc.com

For investors:

Amy Wakeham

858.836.5000

investorrelations@resmed.com