Homefront Insights

Hospice and palliative care are often conflated, but there are important differences between them. Understanding these differences can help individuals and their caregivers choose appropriate treatment options.

Health may happen in neighborhoods, but it is essential to remember that neighborhoods include homes where many residents live alone. Helping those residents live healthier lives may be as simple as visiting them at home.

In a large study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in April 2018, investigators found that patients receiving home care nursing visits were more likely to go to the emergency room after 5 pm on the day of a nursing visit than they would have been had there not been a home visit.

On April 2, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final Call Letter announcing expansion services covered by Medicare Advantage plans. Beginning in 2019, for the first time, Medicare Advantage benefits will include non-skilled home care services.

Most Americans take it for granted that an acute-care hospital is available to them if they require surgery or become seriously ill. But this has been the case for only a relatively brief period of our history. Much routine medical care, and even some surgical care, was traditionally delivered in the patient’s home.

The increasing number of Americans living with cancer suggests that enormous resources must now be devoted to fighting the disease. This comes as the patient-centered treatment movement has gathered momentum. As a result, a growing body of literature has emerged to address home-based treatments for cancer.

How savvy Medicare Advantage (MA) planners have stayed ahead of the curve and have found innovative ways to reduce hospital readmissions.