https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/home-health-road-ahead-rob-gillespie-/
Home health and the road ahead
Rob Gillespie
Telehealth Solutions by Telethink - Think Telemedicine and H... See More
With the recent CMS changes in long term care and home health, telememedicine is poised to play a major role for patients and providers alike.
Even the relatively smaller and newer companies will not be held back by structural constraints. The ability to build a home-focused model from the ground up is certainly attainable with the addition of telehealth for in home care and daily life assistance - the majority of which will be covered under the new Medicare Advantage plans. Think partnerships among provider networks. Here are some highlights listed below:
Beginning October 1, Medicare Advantage plans started revealing what their 2020 offerings will look like. Some of those services are:
- doctor and nurse visits by phone (telemedicine consults)
- home health aide visits
- vision care
- dental care
- transportation and meals.
What is Telethink providing in terms of home care?
We at Telethink have a number of different offerings where we engage with members in the home. Two of which are, primary care and behavior health services for some of our most vulnerable members.
Many of these folks are frequently hospitalized and may have limited life expectancies. For those members, we wanted to provide a technology-enabled house call experience. House calls have been shown by CMS and some of its demos to be really important to those who have trouble accessing care, including those who are home bound.
We give them access to physicians, nurses, social workers — people who are available 24/7 if needed. They’ll spend the time necessary to answer questions, give advice and prescribe when necessary. Contrast that to getting 10 minutes with your doctor in the office.
We focus on very a comprehensive, ecosystem of care that’s aligned with members’ values, preferences and prognosis. We provide a number of interventions that are on the cutting-edge side:
- expert advice from physicians, psychologists, dentists, dietitians, fitness trainers
- healthcare navigation for explanation of benefits, cost advocacy and second opinions
- all in addition to primary care and behavior health.
Do you provide any home health services as well?
Telemedicine is our forte, we don't provide onsite skilled or non-skilled home health personnel but, we are happy to provide our services for those who do. We DO provide telemedicine as an employee benefit and can factor that into any offer for coverage. Our plan includes the employee's family members as well.
In general, home health is probably underutilized for a lot of frail elders. We look to use telehealth wherever and whenever it's necessary.
A lot of Medicare Advantage players are leaning further into home care because of CMS’s efforts to expand supplemental benefits. Is Telethink?
Absolutely, committing to a home-based strategy is something that we have been interested in doing and have been investing in for some time. Home-based care is very scalable compared to brick and mortar.
It’s also clear to us that home-based care allows you to pick up on and address issues that you would never see in an office setting. You can engage with family members. There’s an incredible amount of data available that otherwise would not be.
Can you share any outcomes data, tied to your home-based care program?
With our in-home care program, we’ve seen reductions in [hospital] admission rates, reductions in ER visitation rates. We’ve seen reduced medical expenses overall. And we’ve heard from a lot of members who are just positive and grateful for the program.
You said you do partner with home health companies. What do you look for in those partnerships?
Generally speaking, there are a few things that are very important to us.
One is responsiveness. If you have a home health need, being able to quickly make the referral is essential.
Also having bi-directional communication is important. We do provide an EHR for each patient/member. Once the home health provider is in there working with our member, we want to hear from that provider if they see something they’re concerned with. Even if it’s just, “the member doesn’t look good today.”
Provider groups need to be collaborators and, in a sense, sensors. Home health providers might be in the home more frequently than we are, depending on a member’s needs.
Rob Gillespie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-gillespie-37aa46111/
telethink@protonmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment