Home Health Care News - An Outlook For the Future

Staffing problems are here to stay in response to the Patient Driven Groupings Model (PCGMs) and the new CO VID 19 contracted nationwide epidemic. Hospitals have resorted to using staffing solutions, on an as-needed basis to balance staffing levels. Even Certified Home Health Care Providers (CHP) is seeing a slowdown in recruiting efforts as they grapple with increased demand for services from recovering drug addicts and other "boot camps" for recovering addicts. The latest Home Health Care News reports that Licensed Home Health Care Professional (LHCP) staffing has declined by one-third since January 1, 2021. According to The Home Health Care News, "The increase was driven by an accelerated detoxification plan initiated by the state." Unfortunately, state administrators had little time to implement their plan as it was implemented, due to budget cuts by the state legislature.



The staffing issues faced by Home Health Care Providers are detailed in The Home Health Care News report, The Home Health Care Crisis in 2021. The crisis affects CHPs and LHCPs alike. According to the report, "In response to the crisis, state funding has been restored for licensed home health care agencies. However, staffing issues continue to dominate most agency efforts, to increase patient enrollment. According to the latest Home Health Care News report, fourteen states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, have reduced or eliminated patient eligibility for home health care assistance because of staffing shortages."

The latest Home Health Care News from The Home Health Care News Team describes the current state of play regarding long-term care policies and financing. The team reports that eleven states, led by Rhode Island, now have long-term care policies that require Medicare beneficiaries to obtain coverage as an optional add-on to their primary plan or to purchase a private, short-term health insurance policy from a participating company. According to the series webinar, "The additional expense was found to be unnecessary as many seniors would be able to pay the additional premium price of the additional policy premium on their own."

In an article from The Home Health Care News Team, entitled "A Brief Update on Funding Issues for Home Health Care Providers," the authors write that "The unfortunate lack of funding and the high unemployment rate have put Home Health Care Providers in a tough situation. Providers must operate under budget even as they are asked to provide more services and devote more resources to patient care. According to The Home Health Care News, 'The only solution is to hire additional staff, which will lead to an increase in patient traffic and potentially more assignments.' In addition to additional staffing, the introduction of new technology will also have to be addressed, as will the use of trained nursing care aides who can accompany patients in their home and help them with daily activities such as bathing and feeding."

According to the same article, "More and more Home Health Care Providers is turning to the Internet to increase revenues. At present, there are two main options - Remote Patient Monitoring and Telecare." The article goes on to describe the difference between Remote Patient Monitoring and Telecare and then explains how Telecare works. According to the article, "Dordick believes the Home Health Care Work Force Association (HCWA) is concerned with employment issues and worker compensation whereas the independent Home Health Care Providers Association (HHCPA) is focused more on the quality of care provided." The Home Health Care News team goes on to describe the major benefits of hiring a part-time employee to provide Home Health Care Services as opposed to having a large number of in-house caregivers.

The Home Health Care News Team notes, "The Federal stimulus package and the State Medicaid programs may address some of the problems of Home Health Care in the next decade. For example, the Federal stimulus package is offering tax credits for employers who offer services to their employees who are elderly or handicapped. Some states are encouraging the elderly to move into long-term care facilities, while others are requiring insurers to cover the costs of long-term care in nursing homes. Home Health Care News hopes that the Federal and State governments will continue to address these issues so that Home Health Care can thrive into the future."