Ride-Sharing Partnerships Offer High ROI, Workforce Relief for Home Care Companies

Home Health Care News | By Joyce Famakinwa
 
The right partnership can be a powerful tool for businesses looking to expand their service offerings, enhance their internal operations or even gain an edge over competitors.
 
Over the years, home care providers have gone beyond just forming relationships with industry peers. These collaborations have yielded a significant return on investment (ROI) for agencies. 
 
In general, home care organizations have partnered with food delivery companies, fitness companies and home modification companies, just to name a few examples. For 24 Hour Home Care and Georgetown Home Care, its collaborations with rideshare companies that have driven key results.
 
24 Hour Home Care’s “Ride With 24” initiative is a partnership between the company, Uber (NYSE: UBER) and Lyft (Nasdaq: LYFT). It connects seniors with on-demand transportation. Instead of needing a smartphone, a senior can call a toll-free number and have a concierge-like individual help them book a ride over the phone.
 
Though partnerships between home-based care providers and rideshare companies have become more common over the years, 24 Hour Home Care was one of the first in the industry to team up with Uber, Ryan Iwamoto, president and co-founder of 24 Hour Home Care, told Home Health Care News.
 
“We were one of their beta partners for their Uber Health platform,” he said. “The idea for the partnership started because we saw one of our offices using Uber. When we drilled down, we found out the office was using Uber to get caregivers to clients in emergencies, or in situations where they weren’t able to transport themselves to the client’s home. We thought that leveraging these services was an amazing idea.”

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Why Accuracy, Timeliness Will Be More Important Than Ever in OASIS-E

Home Health Care News | By Joyce Famakinwa
 
Getting an accurate and timely OASIS is a challenge that home health providers continue to face. As providers continue to gear up for OASIS-E, it will be important to follow a set of processes that will help set them up for success.
 
“We’ve got to be thinking about how we can make this better,” Cindy Krafft, co-owner and co-founder of consulting firm Kornetti & Krafft Health Care Solutions, said earlier this month during a presentation at the annual Illinois HomeCare & Hospice Council (IHHC) conference. “I think OASIS-E is going to be a great place to start. A great place to say, however we did it before, how can we do better going forward?”
 
Broadly, the implementation of OASIS-E comes after public health emergency-related delays. OASIS-E is set to be implemented on Jan. 1, 2023, in order to line up with the start of the nationwide expansion of the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model.
 
Since payment and outcomes for providers are directly impacted by OASIS data collection, it’s crucial that the data accurately reflects the status of the patient.
 
Thus, intake has a major impact on getting a clean and speedy OASIS.
 
During intake there are several key questions to be considered, according to Krafft: Which physician will provide the face-to-face encounter for the patient’s home health services?; What is included in the face-to-face documentation to support services for the patient?; What additional information should be requested to support eligibility for the patient’s care?; What must you ensure is provided in the referral order for services?
 
Providers should remember that physicians are responsible for diagnosis assignment.

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CMS Proposes Updates to Reduce Barriers to Coverage, Simplify Medicare Enrollment and Expand Access

Proposed rule would create Special Enrollment Periods, reduce gaps in Medicare coverage and improve administration of the Medicare Savings Programs.

[The] Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule to update Medicare enrollment and eligibility rules that would expand coverage for people with Medicare and advance health equity. This proposed rule would provide Medicare coverage the month immediately after enrollment, thereby reducing the uninsured period and expand access through Medicare special enrollment periods (SEPs). It would also allow eligible beneficiaries to receive Medicare Part B coverage without a late enrollment penalty. This proposed rule would make it easier for people to enroll in Medicare and eliminate delays in coverage.

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2022 Hospice & Palliative Care Workforce Survey

Workforce issues have been identified has one of the major concerns for hospice providers across the country. 

So that we are able to paint a clear picture of the challenges hospice providers are facing, the NHPCO Workforce Workgroup, of which HHAC is one of a handful of participants, in collaboration with Hospice Analytics, has developed a short survey.

We request that the Administrator or designee of each hospice complete the survey by June 30, 2022. 

With much appreciation,

NHPCO Workforce Workgroup