Building on connections forged earlier this year at the Burden Reduction Conference in Washington DC hosted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), LeadingAge on August 12, 2026 met with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s (ONC) Dr. Mindy Kidder and Dr. Tom Mason, Chief Nursing and Chief Medical Officer, respectively, and other leaders to discuss how best to ensure long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) providers are included in the administration’s interoperability initiatives.

Sharing data from our tenth annual Center for Aging Services Technology (CAST) survey, we highlighted members’ progress toward interoperability as well as the persistent barriers to adoption, particularly the lack of payment incentives comparable to those provided to hospitals and physicians through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.

ONC highlighted several acceleration workgroups and stakeholder engagement opportunities through which LeadingAge and its members could help shape emerging interoperability standards. The agency also offered to include LeadingAge in future discussions focused on educating providers about new interoperability-related requirements and initiatives, including prior authorization (PA) implementation and other program interfaces.

ONC emphasized that the inclusion of long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) providers is essential to achieving a truly interoperable health care system. However, agency leaders also noted limitations in their ability to support providers directly, given the expiration of certain grant programs, coordination efforts, and cooperative agreements that previously helped advance health information technology (IT) adoption.

LeadingAge discussed its ongoing advocacy efforts—conducted both independently and in collaboration with the Long-Term Post-Acute Care Health Information Technology (LTPAC Health IT) Collaborative —with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to allow the use of Civil Monetary Penalty (CMP) funds for electronic health record implementation and interoperability investments. We also highlighted our efforts to encourage CMS to standardize PA processes across Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to reduce administrative burden on providers.

The meeting concluded with agreement that additional discussions are warranted. ONC also expressed interest in learning more about legislation previously supported by LeadingAge that would provide LTPAC providers with the financial resources needed to invest in health information technology and interoperability capabilities.

We look forward to building upon this initial meeting’s achievements to ensure members are prepared for the future.