ClearCare, Researchers from Harvard Medical School’s Department of Health Care Policy, and Right at Home recently launched a joint partnership. This partnership supports a program called “The Intervention in Home Care to Improve Outcomes,” or simply “In Home.” In Home will test a new, large scale randomized intervention designed to improve health outcomes, prevent hospitalizations, and lessen Medicare spending among private-pay home care recipients.
The In-Home program is made up of two components: 1) early identification of any changes in a patient’s condition, and 2) monitoring and/or helping to manage these changes in the home.
If certain changes continue undetected and unmanaged, they can often worsen into expensive hospitalizations. By identifying avoidable conditions in their early stages, deciding the right escalation, and then helping to manage the condition in the home – where many seniors feel the most comfortable – the In-Home program will create a “win-win” of improving outcomes and lowering health care spending for the home care population.
For the first time in history, there is a major demographic shift, with more older people than younger,” said Geoff Nudd, CEO of ClearCare. “This fact, in combination with expensive treatments driving the healthcare cost crisis, is triggering a general examination of how preventative, non-medical care might be the answer to the problem. This program will provide us with invaluable insight into how the power of home care can improve lives.”
More and more, provider groups and health plans are working jointly to prevent hospitalizations, decrease health networks’ expenses, and lower costs for those receiving care. Until now, these providers and plans haven’t typically reimbursed clients for home care – the care recipient or their family typically pays for them privately. The conclusions of the In-Home Program could support the idea that aging at home both lowers health care spending while at the same time, maximizes quality of life.
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