Care at Home News Review
Read on for the Alliance’s regular round up of the top news reporting on the care at home community.
Alliance backs bill to extend hospice face-to-face certification flexibilities
The National Alliance for Care at Home endorsed bipartisan legislation that would, if signed into law, extend certain telehealth flexibilities for hospices beyond March 31 — when telehealth flexibilities expire.
HR 1720, introduced Thursday by Reps. Carol Miller (R-WV) and Jared Golden (R-ME), would extend the current telehealth flexibility allowing hospice providers to recertify patients via virtual visits, rather than face-to-face encounters. This flexibility was first implemented to help providers reach rural patients and effectively deliver care amid workforce shortages. However, it, along with various other telehealth reforms put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, face a March 31 expiration date.
Congress Mulls Bill to Extend Hospice Recertification Via Telehealth
Federal lawmakers have introduced legislation designed to extend a key telehealth flexibility beyond a March 31 termination date.
Reps. Carol Miller (R-West Virginia) and Jared Golden (D-Maine) have reintroduced the Hospice Recertification Flexibility Act. If enacted, the bill would allow hospices to conduct face-to-face recertification visits via telehealth.
“As patients enter into hospice care, it’s important they can remain in the comfort of their own home as they receive treatment,” Miller said in a statement. “That’s why I am reintroducing the Hospice Recertification Flexibility Act to allow hospice providers to use telehealth to conduct the face-to-face visits required for hospice recertification. This bill will make it easier for hospice providers by extending access to telehealth as a way for them to continue offering critical care and to monitor the health of their patients.”
Home Care Providers Aim For Big Wins By Introducing Shorter Care Models Bypassing Service Minimums
Some home-based care organizations are looking to a different model of care to fill a longstanding gap by introducing short-hour care models that aim to provide as-needed care to relatively independent seniors and individuals with disabilities, who often prefer to stay in their homes rather than move into care facilities.
Hiring a caregiver for short periods can be financially impractical due to minimum-hour requirements or premium fees for short-term care. However, some organizations are making changes to their models to address the rising demand for such services. These include successful neighborhood-based initiatives that offer a versatile range of services while being more affordable.
Rural home care access declined while hospice access increased over 30-year period, study finds
Rural United States communities saw access to home healthcare fall and access to hospice care rise between 1990 and 2020, according to a new study published in The Journal of Rural Health.
The researchers examined county-level Medicare provider data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Area Health Resource Files, which is compiled by the Health Resources & Services Administration. They found that urban counties had persistently high local access to healthcare, while rural counties had lower and declining rates of care access.
Despite Muted M&A To Start Year, Private Equity Still Pursuing At-Home Care
This week brought some big news in the at-home care space, with the acquisition of BrightStar Care by a private equity firm.
The deal is not the only PE-driven transaction to make headlines this year, with other examples including Renovus Capital Partners’ investment in Superior Health Holdings and Levine Leichtman Capital Partners’ acquisition of SYNERGY HomeCare.
Yet, overall activity is more muted than some market watchers expected at the outset of 2025.
Safeguarding Caregivers from Violence
We’ve published and talked a lot about caregiver safety, lone worker safety, and keeping your caregivers safe. Until the risk of violence to care at home workers is 0%, we will continue to provide this information and urge you to implement plans to lower the risk.
It’s nice to see that we’re not the only ones. Much of the following information comes from Lockton Affinity Home Care, along with reports from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Workplace violence is at a much higher risk among home care workers than other professions. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that home health aides and home nursing assistance are five to seven times more likely to experience workplace violance than the average U.S. worker. Workplace violence can include verbal, non-verbal and written harrassment, bullying, sexual harassment, and physical attacks, up to and including death. A study from the CDC is discouraging:
Popularity of flex cards for MA benefits works against growth of in-home service offerings, experts say
Medicare Advantage supplemental benefits are trending away from in-home supportive services as insurers push easier-to-deliver offerings, such as food and nutrition or transportation benefits, according to policy experts at ATI Advisory.
“I would say that the trend is more toward benefits that can be delivered via a flex card,” Tyler Cromer, who leads ATI’s complex care programs policy and research practice, told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse last week in an interview. “There are a number of reasons for that. I think that beneficiaries like flex cards and they like the flexibility in having a set of resources that they can spend on things they deem as valuable to them — whether that’s buying fresh produce at the grocery store, buying gas to be able to get to needed appointments, or help with the utility bill.”
Focus On The Home Propels Best Buy Health While Other Retailers Pull Back On Health Care
While many other retail giants have pulled back on their recent forays into health care, Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) is continuing to push forward though its Best Buy Health business – with home-based care being a cornerstone of the strategy.
Last week, health care leaders from Baptist Health South Florida and Mass General Brigham appeared on a webinar hosted by Best Buy Health and moderated by Tom Kiesau, chief innovation officer and managing partner at Chartis, where they discussed the financial benefits and value of care-at-home programs.
How Home Health Agencies Can Boost Referral Conversion Rates
eferrals are the lifeblood of home health agencies. We’re not just talking about numbers but about connecting families with critical care. Our research shows that 94% of customers will recommend a satisfactory company.
Why track referrals?
Referrals:
- Increase client acquisition efficiency
- Boost customer loyalty and retention
- Strengthen sales and revenue
Fractional Home Care
Along with the rest of the Private Pay sector, Jessica Nobles’ Eastern Tennessee agency was struggling with caregiver recruitment and retention. Finding good people is less than half the battle. To keep them, you have to pay a competitive wage and provide enough hours to ensure that wage translates into an attractive and predictable monthly income. We spoke with Jennifer, Founder of Home Care Ops, last week to learn one of her solutions.
What Nobles calls “Fractional Home Care” is providing services in a senior living community with one or more caregivers stationed on site. Residents pay a membership fee or pre-purchase a package of hours. The agency is thus guaranteed a small revenue base and clients are free to request services for a few minutes or a few hours on an as-needed basis.
Don’t let the home health ‘assessment’ become a dirty word
It’s pretty much common knowledge that the home is ground zero for early intervention for medical care for frail, older adults — and for reducing hospitalizations and rehospitalizations.
Just look at how major insurance companies are snapping up home care providers like Kindred at Home, LHC Group, and likely Amedisys. These firms, which have invested heavily in Medicare Advantage, figured it out early: Invest in keeping people healthy at home, and they’ll avoid costly hospital stays. (Which also helps explain why MA plans care so much about supplemental benefits, such as meals and home care and gym memberships. Keep people active and, aha! they stay out of the hospital.)
Learn more
Medicaid Health Plans Failing to Pay Hospices for Nursing Home Room and Board
The issue centers around patients in nursing homes who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. When caring for patients in nursing homes, hospices typically pay for their room and board with the expectation that they will be reimbursed by Medicaid for those expenses.
Stymied Medicaid reimbursement for nursing home room and board could threaten access to care for hospice patients in California and possibly other states.
Hospice Leaders ‘Scratching the Surface’ of Public Awareness Opportunities in 2025
Hospices have opened doors to some of the most innovative opportunities around community and public education to help dispel barriers to greater awareness of their services.
The ability to increase public awareness and community education efforts was cited as the third top concern by 16% of 112 hospice professionals who participated in this year’s Outlook Survey by Hospice News and Homecare Homebase. This challenge superseded consolidation trends in the hospice market and changing payment dynamics.
Diverse Utilization, Cost Trends Shaping Hospice Care Delivery
New trends in hospice care delivery are pointing to a growing need for improved equitable access and diversified services that address a broader range of disease-specific patient needs.
The scope of terminal conditions among hospice patient populations has seen some evolutions in recent years, according to Alix Ware, director of health policy at the National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance). Hospice providers have been expanding the depth of their interdisciplinary disease-specific programs to meet that need, Ware said.
Leaders Weigh In On Trends Shaping The Home Health Workforce
Home-based care industries are experiencing a generational shift in their workforce, coupled with rapidly advancing technology and growing concerns about burnout.
Home-based care operators have been facing ongoing staffing shortages, prompting them to enhance their recruitment and retention strategies. During a recent Home Health Care News webinar, leaders discussed these challenges and the key trends that are shaping the future of the home health workforce in 2025.
‘Needle Has Not Moved’: Experimentation Needed To Strengthen Hospice Workforce
Hospices need a nimble, innovative approach to sustainable retention in today’s competitive health care workforce climate.
Prolific staffing shortages and an increasingly crowded hospice market have created an intensely challenging hiring environment, according to Dr. Raihan Faroqui, head of clinical partnerships at Guaranteed Health. The end-of-life, value-based care company operates Guaranteed Hospice in California.
Hospices with an adaptable mindset around clinical workforce retention stand to gain a leg up on competing health care organizations, Faroqui said during Hospice News’ 2025 Industry Outlook webinar.
Proposed Medicaid Cuts Would Deal ‘Devastating Blow’ to Palliative Care Patients, Families
A recently introduced Congressional budget has proposed cuts to the tune of more than $880 billion in Medicaid funding. If enacted, the legislative move could compromise access to palliative care and the future outlook of innovation in the space.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland) sponsored the newly proposed budget for Fiscal Years 2025 through 2034, which outlined roughly $884.4 billion in potential Medicaid funding cuts. The bill is currently under review by the House Budget Committee.
