March 5, 2021

Welcome to the Moving Health Home newsletter!

In this twice-monthly newsletter, you will find updates on how health care organizations are striving to shift more health care delivery into the home – meeting patient needs where they are and expanding access to quality health care.

This newsletter recaps current events and research. Please send any news or events to cwallace@movinghealthhome.org for future inclusion in this newsletter.

Moving Health Home Launch

Moving Health Home Has Launched! We are so excited to announce the launch of Moving Health Home. Moving Health Home officially launched March 3, 2021, garnering a broad spectrum of support and press. 

MHH Coalition News

New Member Ascension. MHH is pleased to welcome new Member Ascension. Ascension is dedicated to transformation through innovation across the continuum of care. As one of the leading non-profit and Catholic health systems in the U.S., Ascension is committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable.

Congressional Activity

American Rescue Plan: (2/27) – On February 27, the House passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319), which would provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 5. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration. The $1.9 trillion stimulus bill includes a variety of legislative proposals relevant to home-based care.

• Additional Support for Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services During the COVID–19 Emergency Period. Would provide a temporary, 1-year increase of 7.35% in federal matching funds allowing more support for home and community-based services.

• Home Visiting Programs. Includes $150M through FY22 for maternal, infant and early childhood home visiting program (MIECHV). To be eligible for funding, entities must agree not to reduce staffing levels during the pandemic. Funding may be used to serve families with home visits (either in person or virtually), training for home visitors, helping enrolled families acquire the technology needed to conduct virtual home visits, providing emergency supplies, including food and water, and other purposes.
• Supporting Older Americans and Their Families. $1.4 billion for Older Americans Act programs. Would provide money for nutrition programs, COVID support services which can include home and community-based services (HCBS), evidence-based health promotion and disease prevention programs, National Family Caregiver Support Program and Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program.

View the Bill text Press release Section-by-section.

Studies and Surveys

JAMA Psychiatry: (2/23) – Talking on the phone for 10 minutes could make you feel less lonely, study says. Half of the 240 study participants were selected to receive brief phone calls from volunteers over the course of a month, and they reported feeling 20% less lonely on average, according to the study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

News and Market Developments

Dispatch Health: (3/3) – DispatchHealth, a provider of in-home medical care, today announced it has secured an additional $200 million in Series D financing. DispatchHealth will use the funding to expand its platform for in-home medical care to a total of 100 markets and ensure its Advanced Care line of service is widely available in the United States.

Home Health Care News: (3/2) – Encompass Health and Right at Home announced a new preferred provider relationship focused on “a strong mutual commitment to ongoing in-home care innovation,” the companies outlined. In addition to better caring for patients, the preferred provider relationship is about collecting new kinds of data within the home.

STAT News: (2/24) – COVID-19 could usher in a new role for continuous glucose monitoring in hospitals. The pandemic has given hospitals an opening to use continuous glucose monitors to remotely monitor patients with diabetes — and has generated data on whether they can improve inpatient outcomes.

Please subscribe to this newsletter and send any news or events to cwallace@movinghealthhome.org for inclusion in this newsletter.