At a time when health care costs keep rising, in-home care providers are increasingly looking for innovative ways to keep older adults out of the hospital. Many providers have turned to telehealth company Health Recovery Solutions (HRS) to aide in such efforts. Among them is Sentara Home Care, which has been able to lower its […]
Federal watchdogs and health care policymakers are signaling plans to ramp up oversight of fraud, waste and abuse in 2020, especially when it comes to home health and hospice agencies. While the efforts are, in part, linked to the misuse of Medicare dollars by bad actors, they’re also simply a result of the U.S. health […]
Consumer awareness and perceptions regarding the cost of service remain significant challenges for the U.S. home care industry, despite the fact business boomed in 2019. For providers, that means targeted education and outreach need to be priorities moving forward. Historically, word of mouth has largely fueled the utilization of home care services among the general […]
Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) may be charting its own course to in-home care, but the Seattle-based retail and technology giant is unlikely to threaten traditional in-home care providers anytime soon. Nonetheless, providers would be remiss to ignore Amazon’s actions, according to long-time home care leader Mark Heaney. “Amazon makes no small plans, [but] I wouldn’t lose […]
WellSky partners with Forcura WellSky, a health and community care technology company backed by TPG Capital, has partnered with Forcura. Under the partnership, WellSky clients will have access to Forcura’s intake and referrals management tools, care team coordination and orders tracking. “This integration automatically tracks orders and eliminates the need to manually fax orders. Forcura […]
Homecare Homebase launches ‘interoperability’ tool In an effort to improve interoperability, Homecare Homebase (HCHB) announced Wednesday that it has officially launched HCHB Exchange, a tool that allows home-based care providers to send and receive patient information. HCHB is a Dallas-based company that provides cloud-based software solutions for home health and hospice providers. HCHB Exchange is […]
Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) has launched a new virtual care clinic, which will give employees access to telehealth and in-home care, according to CNBC. While public details are relatively sparse, the move potentially sets Amazon up for a broader expansion down the road. The goal of the pilot program — called Amazon Care — is to […]
The Medicare Advantage (MA) landscape is heating up like never before, largely thanks to continued flexibilities from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that allow plans to cover a variety of nonmedical benefits. Plans’ newfound ability to offer supplemental benefits such as home care and transportation for certain beneficiaries is drawing a number […]
With the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) set to move home health payment away from existing therapy thresholds and toward patient characteristics in 2020, providers will need to break down silos within their own operations if they want to be successful. Generally, many providers have often relied on a therapy-driven model, which has been a big […]
A measure in one state that would require health insurers to pay providers equally for telehealth and in-person visits is reportedly a step closer to becoming a reality. If signed into law, the measure could be a boon for telehealth vendors and the home health agencies leveraging their services. The measure is California Assembly Bill […]