Report Paints Rosy Picture for Home Healthcare

McKnight’s Home Care | By Diane Eastbrook

Despite inflationary and staffing headwinds, the healthcare industry — and home care in particular — is poised for significant growth, according to a report released Tuesday by business consulting firm McKinsey & Company. 
 
The report said care-delivery services outside of the hospital are the fastest-growing businesses for providers, given the shift away from non-acute care settings. Shubham Singhal, a McKinsey senior partner and co-author of the report, told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse that innovators will bring multiple services into the home including, infusion, dialysis, primary care and hospital-at-home.
 
“Over the next few years, we estimate that Medicare beneficiaries could see three to four times more care in their homes if we continue to bring known capabilities to scale,” Singhal said. “Based on our projections, these efforts could translate into a shift of up to $265 billion of incremental Medicare spending from traditional facilities into the home.”  

In-home healthcare for everything from hospital-at-home to dialysis to primary care has been gradually gaining ground since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, more than 200 hospitals and healthcare systems are offering hospital-level care to patients in their homes and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ End Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices Model aims to move more dialysis into homes and save Medicare $23 million over five years. 
 
Singhal said growth in technology, especially broadband access, will determine how quickly in-home healthcare will grow. He pointed out that an estimated 20 million Americans in mostly rural areas still lack reliable broadband access and in-home these services must also find ways to “knit together” the use of virtual care and in-person care. 
 
The report also found that the COVID-19 pandemic led to a rise in deteriorating mental health and an increase in chronic diseases as patients skipped care. It estimated the cost of care grew by $10 billion last year and will increase another $7 billion by 2025.
 
Singhal said there is no single solution to mitigating the increase in chronic conditions, but said focusing on behavioral health, disease prevention and social determinants of health should be part of the focus.
 
“Our analyses have shown that we can reduce the burden of chronic disease in the U.S. through known interventions, but it would require a dedicated and focused effort over time,” he said.

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