Health care in the U.S. is one of the hottest topics in the news today. Not since 50 years ago, when the federal government began administering Medicare benefits to Americans aged 65 and older, has health and how we deliver care to older Americans been so important.
How health care is evolving in the U.S. is a primary topic of conversation within government groups, research organizations, the businesses and agencies that coordinate care, health care providers, patients, and more. We have all heard about the growth in the populations of older Americans. The data is clear and trending: roughly 1 in 5 Americans (about 21%) will be 65 years old and up by 2050, compared with just 13% in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Many of these seniors are striving to age in place. According to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), persons 50 and older with disabilities strongly prefer independent living in their own homes to other alternatives. How is the current health care system equipped to handle the number of Americans who prefer care at home? Are systems flexible enough to scale and accommodate such an influx of patients? Are home health care agencies and their staff adequately supported and ready to meet this challenge?
These valid questions and many more were explored last week at the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation launch event in Washington, DC for their Future of Home Health Project. The Alliance is a non-profit organization committed to research and education about the value of home health care to patients and the U.S. health care system. The event held on Capitol Hill was a launch pad for opening the discussion among many diverse and influential groups focused on where home health care as a segment of the overall healthcare continuum stands in the U.S. and where it’s going.
The Alliance has gathered together some of the brightest and most influential minds in the home health industry to provide insight into the future of home health care. At the Capitol Hill event, some of the distinguished members of the Alliance, in addition to researchers and thought leaders, presented their views and insights into the Future of Home Health and the project itself. The presenters were Dr. Steven Landers, President and CEO of VNA Health Group and Chairman of the Alliance, Tracey Moorhead, President & CEO of the Visiting Nurse Associations of America, Dr. Al Dobson, President, Dobson|DaVanzo & Associates and Dr. Tracy Lustig of the Institute of Medicine.
The strategic, research-based project launched will aim to help shape policies and planning for the continued growth of caring for American seniors and individuals living with disabilities. Some of the immediate concerns and questions raised by the Alliance are the payment system silos in Medicare, the current favoring the fragmented of services over coordinated care and the system roadblocks to administering home health care, such as the complicated determination of qualifying patients as homebound.
In the Alliance’s white paper on The Future of Home Health Care Project, the organization discusses working toward achievement of the Triple Aim, a framework developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. The Triple Aim includes improving the patient experience of care (including quality and satisfaction), improving the health of populations and reducing the per capita cost of health care. Understanding how home health care can best be used to achieve the Triple Aim is a key goal of the Project.
These goals can be achieved when policy makers, home health agencies, providers and patients work together, and will have many far-reaching benefits. For example, a reduced number of re-hospitalizations, better provider/patient (and caregiver) communication and a robust and streamlined business environment for agencies and providers will all result when the health care system is optimized for home health. Moreover, home health care is clearly the patient’s preference. Consider these statistics from the Home Health Chartbook showing that more often than not, patient outcomes improved after receiving home health care: 89% of wounds improved or healed after an operation, 67% had less pain when moving around, 66% got better at bathing and 64% had improved breathing. These statistics point to improvements that can be further enhanced as we invest in quality improvement and infrastructure to support patient care. Wouldn’t we all like to see such positive trends continue in home health care?
We certainly do at Axxess. As a sponsor of The Future of Home Health Project, we are proud to be working with the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation on such an important initiative. As a home health software innovator and technology provider, our primary goal has been to improve the efficiencies and operations of the home health agency, which in turn can help improve the care and lives of patients. We see the business of home health agencies, patient care, policy and organizational issues and the communication that ties all of us together as the complete life cycle of home health. Each working part is as important as the next and when everyone is working together, positive patient outcomes follow.
At Axxess, we are committed to starting the conversation between many different groups to help build the successful platform of home health in this country. One of our mottos is: Join the Movement. We are honored to be a part of the movement taking place in home health care. Based on last week’s exciting event, we truly look forward to helping lead the effort to enhance patient experience and reduce the overall cost of healthcare, enabling the industry to achieve the goals of the Triple Aim.
– John Olajide is the President & CEO of Axxess
