Institutions Partner Up On Home-Based Care Training Program

With the mounting shortage of home caregivers, one organization is aiming to train thousands more workers to meet the growing demand for in-home care services.

The Home Centered Care Institute (HCCI), a non-profit organization working to advance home health care nationwide, estimates there are only 1,000 providers in the U.S. making the majority of home-based primary care visits. With the launch of its new home health care training program, the Institute aims to grow the workforce by 5,000 clinicians in five years.

Eight academic institutions, including the Cleveland Clinic and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, have partnered with HCCI as Centers of Excellence (COEs) for Home-Based Primary Care.

Advertisement

“Our goal as an organization is to advance and expand home-based primary care across the U.S.,” Dr Thomas Cornwell, HCCI founder and CEO, told Home Health Care News. “Home-based primary care provides better health, more compassionate care and lower costs for medically complex patients, while preparing the nation for future pressures on the health care system, especially as America’s aging population grows.”

The program will get started later this year, with HCCI hosting a “train-the-trainer” session in September and the COEs conducting their first workshops between October and December. Each COE is slated to host four additional workshop sessions in 2018, and the PEP program will launch in 2018, as well, Cornwell told HHCN.

The COE institutions will offer a comprehensive curriculum, developed by home health care thought leaders, that focuses on four key components: foundational principles, economics, operations and clinical care.

Advertisement

Participants will undergo a 12-hour classroom course that will ensure both clinicians and practice management professionals meet required competencies and performance standards.

Following this course, participants focus on skills application through a three-month group mentorship and a two-day mini-fellowship at an HCCI Practice Excellence Partner (PEP) site. The list of PEP sites is currently in development.

The cost for training is $2,500, or $1,500 for residents and students of the COEs, Cornwell said. These rates cover classroom education at the COE, the group mentorship opportunity and field experience gained in the mini-fellowship at a PEP. Participants do not need to be affiliated with the COE institutions to enroll in the program.

The program will be funded in part by organizations including the Bramsen Foundation, which focuses on improving end-of-life care, and The John A. Hartford Foundation, a private national philanthropy based in New York City that aims to improve care for seniors.

“For the first time, HCCI has brought together the collective knowledge of so many committed and passionate experts into one comprehensive educational experience,” Martha Twaddle, MD, Senior Vice President of Curriculum and Quality at HCCI, said in the press release. “Together with our partners, including the American Academy of Home Care Medicine, the field’s professional association, we look forward to shaping the future of home-based primary care.”

The eight new Centers of Excellence partnering with HCCI on this program are:

  • Cleveland Clinic
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
  • MedStar Health – Medical House Call Program
  • Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
  • Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
  • University of Arizona Center on Aging
  • University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
  • University of California, San Francisco

Written by Elizabeth Jakaitis

Companies featured in this article:

, , , , , , , , ,