Home Health Industry Must Plan for Future PDGM Fight

With a 1.7% bump to Medicare rates and seemingly few modifications to the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), the home health proposed payment rule for calendar year 2022 felt relatively benign at first glance. In reality, though, the June 28 proposal from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) likely sets up a policy […]

Home Health Providers Lag Behind Skilled Nursing Facilities in Preventing Re-Hospitalizations

While home health care is often touted as a cost-effective way to reduce readmissions, skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) — though more expensive — might be better at keeping patients out of the hospital post-discharge. That’s according to a new article published in JAMA Internal Medicine, which shows readmission rates for patients discharged to home health […]

End-of-Life Care Costs Declined Last Decade

Medicare spending on older Americans during their end-of-life years was down toward the start of last decade, a new study has found. Led by Dartmouth researchers, the study upends the notion that older adults, many of whom end up on hospice care in the last few weeks of life, are largely responsible for driving up […]

Harvard: Home Care Yields Biggest Savings in ACOs

At-home care agencies have long expressed the desire to join accountable care organizations (ACOs), despite not necessarily being invited to sit at the ACO table. Still, there’s evidence that including at-home care would benefit ACOs in more ways than one. In fact, increasing use of at-home care plays a major role in the ability of […]