News and Market Developments
Skilled Nursing News: Interest in SNF-at-Home Reaches New Heights, But Reimbursement Path Remains Murky (3/3) - As more operators look for new ways to incorporate at-home services into their model of care, SNF-at-home, while growing, may still have a long way to go. Securing reimbursement continues to be the most difficult component for SNF-at-home in a managed care environment, according to Contessa Health CEO Travis Messina. “I do think the lack of reimbursement has created some challenges as well with the adoption because we don’t have a reimbursement source and it’s hard to justify the investment necessary to treat these patients,” he told Skilled Nursing News.
Home Health Care News: The Next Frontiers for Home-Based Care Operators (3/3) - Right now, there are three sections of home-based care that I see as core components to the concept: home health, hospice and personal care. There are companies that offer one, two or all three services in some spots. But there’s a growing group of home-based care providers that are hellbent on building out the “three legs of the stool” in all the markets they serve. With most hospice operators, palliative care also often tags along. In home health care, many providers see at-home palliative care as a logical service to offer, but monetizing it in a meaningful way has been anything but easy.
HomeCare Magazine: BAYADA Partners With Dina to Launch Digital Care Coordination Solutions (3/1) - BAYADA Home Health Care, a not-for-profit home health care provider has launched its new, innovative suite of digital care transition and coordination solutions to assist hospitals and health plan joint venture partners to better serve patients in their homes and communities. BAYADA has selected digital health care company, Dina, its current technology partner, as the platform to power these new, tech-enabled services.
HomeCare Magazine: Investing in Care in the Home: NAHC lays out industry priorities for early 2022 (3/1) - The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC)'s 2022 legislative priorities are 1.) ensure funding for Medicaid home- and community-based services (HCBS) in any financial relief package that moves forward in Congress 2.) increase funding for programs serving elderly, 3.) provide direct relief funds to personal care providers, and 4.) continued suspension of Medicare sequestration.
Hospice News: VA Study Finds Benefits of Concurrent Hospice, Home-Based Primary Care (2/28) - Home-based primary care combined with hospice has led to greater family satisfaction among dying veterans covered by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) in recent years. The VA’s home-based primary care (HBPC) program provides coordinated, interdisciplinary care to seriously ill and disabled veterans who wish to age in place at home. Receipt of hospice services while enrolled in the HBPC program was associated with higher satisfaction of end-of-life care, according to VA research published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society.
mHealthIntelligence: Using Hospital-At-Home Services to Lower Readmissions, Increase Capacity (2/28) - UMass Memorial Health, a safety-net provider based in Worcester, Massachusetts, has reaped the benefits of having a hospital-at-home program to care for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients alike. Additionally, data from the first six months of the program are encouraging: a 20-to 30-percent drop in 30-day readmission rates, strong clinical outcomes related to deep vein thrombosis and other infections that can be acquired in a hospital setting, and lower rates of discharge to skilled nursing facilities have been observed among program patients. UMass Memorial plans to add a second team of hospital-at-home physicians and nurses to increase the number of patients receiving care through the program to 18 to 24 patients by early spring 2022.
Home Health Care News: Current Health Addresses Hypertension Care in the Home Through Parkland Partnership (2/27) - In collaboration with Parkland Health & Hospital System, Current Health has set its sights on tackling hypertension through home-based care. The goal of Current Health and Parkland’s hypertension monitoring program is to lower patient risk through regular engagement. Patients will be sent home with the Current Health vital sign monitoring technology and a telehealth tool that allows them to interact with their health care providers, enabling patients to have timely and frequent interactions with their health care providers.
Forbes: Healthcare Is Slowly Moving Out Of Hospitals & Into Homes (2/23) - During the COVID-19 pandemic, providers and health systems took a new approach towards healthcare: one which emphasized patient convenience above all else. As a result, innovation in the home-based care sphere has grown tremendously over the past few years, and will continue to do so moving forward. However, home-based health care will need to address some aspects in order to move forward by 1.) putting strict regulatory and security measures into place that emphasize patient privacy, security, and safety; 2.) expanding internet access and connectivity; and 3.) developing ways to make home-based technologies and new ways of healthcare delivery not only efficacious, but also cost-effective, safe, and well curated to the needs of the patient population.
Healthcare Finance: MyMichigan Health joining 80-plus health systems in expanding hospital at home program (2/22) - MyMichigan Health is now among 84 health systems in the U.S., and one of four in Michigan, offering a hospital-at-home (HaH) program approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. MyMichigan began a pilot program in February 2021 to care for COVID-19 patients. To date, 39 COVID-19 patients have completed the HaH COVID Completion program, with officials reporting no adverse events. In May 2021, the pilot expanded to include COPD, pneumonia and sepsis patients, with 27 additional patients receiving care. The program is now expanding and placing extra emphasis on achieving an inpatient standard of care in the home.
Becker's Hospital Review: Hospital executives have questions about hospital-at-home (2/21) - The impermanent nature of a waiver flexibility and intensified staffing shortages leave health systems that have not yet moved forward with hospital-at-home programs in a policy-driven, wait-and-see limbo. Some systems are looking to nontraditional staffing sources to supplement their workforce for hospital-at-home care delivery: for example, Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health is supplementing its hospital-at-home workforce with community EMTs, who will work closely with Ballad's registered nurses to carry out care prescribed by a hospitalist.
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