Senior Helpers, Home Helpers, VNSNY Navigate Industry Headwinds

Despite the growing demand for in-home care, operating home care and home health agencies has never been more complex. Workforce and regulatory challenges are largely to blame — but the roadblocks are not insurmountable, industry leaders say. Executives from some of the largest home-based care organizations in the U.S. identified their top headwinds — and […]

Communication Breakdown: 60% of Home Health Workers Lack Adequate Information From Hospitals

As the U.S. health care system shifts towards value-based care, financial incentives are encouraging hospitals to work with home health organizations to improve patient outcomes. But despite the push, 60% of home health workers say they lack adequate patient information from hospitals to inform care, often leaving patients unprepared for treatment. That’s according to a […]

Home-Based Program Reduces Senior Depression, Cuts Health Care Costs

A nationwide home-based program is curbing depression among seniors and cutting costs in the process. The Program to Encourage Active, Rewarding Lives (PEARLS), which started out of the University of Washington in the late 1990s, aims to combat depression among those over 65. The condition affects more than 6.5 million Americans in that age group, […]

Home Health Executive Forecast for 2019: Obamacare, Consolidation and PDGM

From the introduction of the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) to fine-tuning the nine-state Value-Based Purchasing Model (VBPM), 2018 was an important year for home health care at large. Next year will bring its own set of challenges and opportunities — some new and others old. Home health industry insiders and top executives expect Texas’ recent […]

Why the Largest Nonprofit US Home Health Provider Goes Big on Research

Since its founding 125 years ago, the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) has not only become the largest not-for-profit home- and community-based health care organization in the United States, it’s also launched dozens of groundbreaking research projects and created an infrastructure within the business dedicated to these efforts. Over the past three decades, […]

Why Population Health Holds the ‘Magic Formula’ to VNSNY’s Future

The Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) filled an important leadership position at the beginning of October. That’s when the large nonprofit provider named former NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital exec Andria Castellanos its new executive vice president and chief of provider services. Castellanos is replacing Marki Flannery, who stepped into the VNSNY CEO and president roles […]

Visiting Nurse Service of NY Creates Market Niche with Transgender Care

As the home health industry has grown and become more competitive, it’s become increasingly important for providers to seek any means of differentiation. For the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY), that’s meant spearheading a rapidly growing program specifically designed for gender affirmation surgery patients. Gender affirmation surgeries are procedures that transform individuals’ bodies […]

Top 10 Home Health and Hospice Providers

Despite regulatory and operational challenges within the home health and hospice industries, competition remains strong, as evidenced in Chicago-based research firm LexisNexis’ 2017 Top 100 Home Health and Hospice Agencies Rankings. The 2017 rankings were compiled by LexisNexis Risk Solutions utilizing 2016 medical claims and patient volume data from the company’s proprietary “MarketView” claims database, […]

Some Seniors Just Want to be Left Alone, Which Can Lead to Problems

Home Health Care News perspective: Not all seniors are ready to accept help at home through home health care or private pay home care. However, refusing home health care services after a hospital can have negative impacts, including higher rates of rehospitalization. Meanwhile, patients that accept home health care services generally report a higher quality of life following […]