Insights on the Homefront

Last month, in the run-up to the Democratic National Convention, Vice President Joe Biden announced the 21st Century Caregiving and Education Workforce plan. The plan would eliminate waiting periods for Medicaid recipients to receive home-based services and increase support for individuals who care for the elderly and disabled. The campaign predicted the plan would cost $775 billion over 10 years.

Medicare enrollment is growing quickly. By 2030, one in five US citizens will be 65 years old or older. Seniors currently receive benefits through Medicare in two ways. One referred to as “traditional Medicare”, the other, Medicare Advantage (MA), also known as “Medicare Part C.” Parts A and B cover hospitalizations and outpatient care and doctor visits, respectively; Part D covers prescription drugs.

In this blog post, Chuck Berg writes about how his journey led him to the Board of CareCentrix and why he supports the company’s vision of creating personalized, coordinated, and tech-enabled services so that people can heal where they want.

It may be premature to speak of positive aspects associated with COVID-19, but the pandemic has taught valuable lessons about how we should care for those who are oldest and most vulnerable. In many cases, lessons learned were from mistakes, including the devastating consequences in New York stemming from the discharge of stable individuals with COVID-19 to long-term care facilities in order to maximize hospital bed availability when those long-term facilities were unable to care for those patients in a manner that would prevent further infection at the facility.

The National Council on Aging (NCOA) has published a blog penned by Terri Maxwell, Ph.D., APRN, chief clinical officer, Turn-Key Health, a CareCentrix Company, discussing the important role of home-based palliative care (HBPC) for supporting seriously ill people at home. With the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affecting the chronically ill and those age 60+, Dr. Maxwell offers guidance on how best to support the seriously ill in their homes during lock-down and beyond.

Now more than ever, people want to avoid in-person care, and meeting these demands means a massive shift in our healthcare system. Telehealth is part of the equation, but truly meeting the moment means robust care delivery in the home powered by technology. In March, we recognized the increased desire for telehealth services and extended our advanced home technology package including telehealth, care collaboration, and home monitoring tools at no cost to our network of 8,000 home health agencies.

Predictive analytics can save lives when officials understand their strengths and limitations. Many epidemiological models are indeed useful, especially when paired with an effective application into comprehensive public health policies. While all models will be wrong in certain cases, using them responsibly will drive the right outcomes for patients around the world.