Hospital-at-home programs have seen major growth, but factors such as unstable reimbursement and workforce strain are still impeding the model from reaching its full potential. That’s one key takeaway from a recent report from a new report from consulting firm West Monroe.
To usher hospital-at-home programs into the future, the report recommended that operators of these programs address patients’ practical challenges, establish strong connections with partner providers and refine technology advancement.
Overall, more than 350 U.S. hospitals are authorized to deliver high-acuity care in the home setting through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) “Acute Hospital Care at Home” waiver. CMS introduced the waiver in 2020 as a COVID-19 relief measure.
Since then, organizations like Mount Sinai, Northwell Health, Allegheny Health Network, Geisinger Health, and more have all been approved to participate in the waiver program.
In the aftermath of the waiver lapsing due to the government shutdown, hospital-at-home is at a critical point, according to Kelsey Braak, director at West Monroe.
“I think the last few months are going to be impactful to the potential continued growth within this space,” she told Home Health Care News. “Policymakers and the regulations ahead of us aren’t making this easy with [regard to] the uncertainty on how long the waivers will be available, if this will become a long-standing delivery mechanism. Expiration dates that continue to get punted make it really hard to plan longer-term from the financial perspective of the business.”
Recently, 67% of hospital-at-home programs have reported decreases in admissions since the government shutdown, according to the Hospital at Home Users Group.
The West Monroe report highlighted a number of focus areas important to the future of these programs.
The report emphasized the importance of developing hospital-at-home programs that are built around how people actually live. This means addressing issues like, for example, limited internet access, which can be solved by pairing remote monitoring platforms with phone-based check-ins.
For health systems, forming partnerships with established home-based care organizations will also be important, as these companies already have infrastructure, staffing and logistics in place, according to the report.
Providers should also ensure processes are refined before instituting brand new technologies, the report’s authors noted. AI, remote monitoring and other tools only go so far when layered on top of inconsistent workflows.
“There’s a lot of potential for innovation across the different modalities of technologies that have been deployed,” Braak said. “[The] key to their success, and for a new provider that’s looking to get into this space, is to make sure you’re planning for the realities that come with technology.”
Tracking measures like improvements in access, wait times, and clinician workload should also be a top priority for providers.
Ultimately, Braak stated that the companies seeing the most success are those with a clear understanding of what caring for patients in the home entails.
“Understanding the cohort of patients that you’re going to serve, understanding the socioeconomic and other factors of that community, putting some real-life details into what it’s going to look like to enter those homes,” she said. “That’s often a whole new set of data that’s got to be considered to inform you how you’ll deliver these services.”
The post The Keys To Developing Sustainable Hospital-At-Home Programs appeared first on Home Health Care News.
