Washington, DC – Commenting on the importance for long term and post acute care to be integrated on the national level with health information technology, The American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) today praised the appointment of Richard E. Chapman, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative and Information Officer of Kindred Healthcare, Inc. to serve on the Health Information Technology Policy Committee at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“On behalf of the long term care community I thank Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for facilitating this appointment and for being a champion on Capitol Hill for long term and post acute care,” stated Bruce Yarwood President and CEO of AHCA. “The appointment of Mr. Chapman to this prestigious position will stimulate much needed discussion on health information technology and its role in long term and post acute care.”
The Health Information Technology Policy Committee is a new federal advisory body established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to provide “recommendations on standards, implementation specifications, and certifications criteria in eight specific areas.” The committee will make recommendations to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology on creating a policy framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure, including standards for the exchange of patient medical information.
“As an appointee to this committee, Mr. Chapman will bring years of experience working in information technology for both acute care and post-acute care providers with Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation and Kindred Healthcare, and I am confident that he will elevate the need for increased HIT for the care needs of America’s frail, elderly and disabled,” stated David Kyllo, Executive Director of NCAL. “The care needs of the 2.5 million individuals served in our skilled nursing and assisted living communities will only benefit from increased advancement of these technologies.”
The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) represent nearly 11,000 non-profit and proprietary facilities dedicated to continuous improvement in the delivery of professional and compassionate care provided daily by millions of caring employees to 1.5 million of our nation's frail, elderly and disabled citizens who live in nursing facilities, assisted living residences, subacute centers and homes for persons with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. For more information, please visit www.ahca.org or www.ncal.org.