Health system and vendor stakeholders in the home healthcare space have formed a coalition called Moving Health Home to urge policymakers to think differently about reimbursement for clinical services provided in the home.
The group says it is time to change reimbursement models and the culture around institutional care to allow for Americans to choose their home as a site of care. Making the home part of the regular options available to patients will allow for primary care, behavioral health, chronic disease management and even hospital-level care in the home.
To take pressure off hospitals during the surging pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced in November several steps to increase the capacity of healthcare systems to provide care outside a traditional hospital setting, including in the home. The Acute Hospital Care at Home program is an expansion of the CMS Hospital Without Walls initiative launched in March 2020 as a part of a comprehensive effort to increase hospital capacity, maximize resources, and combat COVID-19 to keep Americans safe. This program creates additional flexibility that allows for certain healthcare services to be provided outside of a traditional hospital setting and within a patient’s home.
The number of hospitals taking advantage of regulatory flexibility to provide acute hospital services in the home has grown to include 109 hospitals in 29 states.
Founding members of the new coalition include Amazon Care, Landmark Health, Signify Health, Dispatch Health, Elara Caring, Intermountain Healthcare, Home Instead and Ascension.
"Over 17 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are living with six or more chronic conditions. In-home, patient-centered care is critical to managing the complex health needs of our nation's older adults. We need a public policy agenda that ensures access to innovative in-home care," said Nick Loporcaro, Chief Executive Officer at Landmark Health, in a statement.
"We are pleased to join the other founding members of the Moving Health Home Coalition to advocate for the expanded use of the home environment as a venue for robust patient care," said Elara Caring CEO Scott Powers, in a statement. "As one of the nation's largest providers of home care services, Elara Caring feels strongly that the current state of technology, care coordination, and caregiver capability is aligned to permit patients to choose treatment in their homes."
