ARTICLE | HEALTHCARE CAPACITY & HOME-BASED CARE
ARTICLE | HEALTHCARE CAPACITY & HOME-BASED CARE
Key Takeaways:
As the healthcare industry recovers from the pandemic (even 4 years later), staffing shortages and capacity constraints remain significant challenges. As healthcare entities have tried to alleviate these pressures, some innovative solutions have gained traction. These include remote patient monitoring, Hospital at Home programs, and more prominently, models that transport acute and post-acute care into the home setting.
Mass General Hospital presents a clear and successful example of how healthcare organizations are making modifications to their services to address capacity issues: “Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have been shifting the site of health care to the home for patients with acute medical conditions that can appropriately and safely be cared for in the home since 2016.” (Mass General Brigham).
Whether for acute, post-acute, or chronic condition management, the trend of equipping the patient’s home to deliver necessary care is growing in popularity, even beyond the pandemic. It’s proven to be cost-effective and results in lower readmission rates for patients.
“All of a sudden, folks were seeing that they were operationally able to make the services side of home based care delivery work…we can run a model that is far lower staffing ratio on the provider side. All of a sudden, you don't need the staffing ratio and the capital costs of a hospital or SNF. You can deliver the same type of care in the home. And payers love that because they were no longer paying expensive facility fees, they were really getting good care that delivered at a much lower cost.”
A report from Home Health Care News highlights that hospital capacity challenges are a clear and driving force behind the expansion of at-home care. “Home care volume will increase 20%, driven by a culmination of advances in remote monitoring and digital health capabilities, more favorable payment structures, and lower acuity care shifting to the home setting,” the report’s authors wrote (Home Health Care News).
Additionally, home care reduces hospital readmissions by 25%, according to the National Association for Home Care and Hospice.
While these advances and innovations are impressive, they repeatedly overlook a critical piece of this puzzle– the family caregiver.
As more care is moved into the home, it’s crucial not to overlook the role of the family caregiver. When patients receive care at home instead of in hospitals, the responsibility for daily tasks and monitoring often falls to a nearby loved one. This integral role of the caregiver is essential for the success of home-based care programs.
These caregivers are an integral part of any home-based care team and play a crucial role in facilitating care transitions, such as hospital discharges and follow-up care at home. Ensuring caregivers are adequately supported can help sustain the benefits of home-based care while addressing the ongoing staffing and capacity crises in US healthcare settings.
Caregivers are the bridge between clinical and nonclinical care, and we believe they are untapped opportunities on how you can reduce readmissions, ensure effective delivery of care at home. And so, you know, we’ll talk a little bit around tactically, like, how can you really effectively or practically work with family caregivers?
Over the years, we have asked caregivers to function as unpaid labor in many of these models, including Hospital At Home.
There are ample opportunities as new technologies emerge, to care for patients in the home and alleviate pressure on traditional care settings while delivering quality care to patients in their homes.
But supporting caregivers is vital to ensure these models are efficient and safe. As more organizations aim to scale home-based care programs, the resources, funding, navigation, and overall support for caregivers must also scale.
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