WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 4, 2021)—A coalition of innovative health care companies has launched a group called Moving Health Home to fundamentally change the way policymakers think about the home as a site of clinical service. Americans want to receive health care in their homes. Evidence from the pandemic shows it's possible, and data proves it is safe and effective. Therefore, it is time to change reimbursement models and the culture around institutional care to allow for Americans to choose their home as a site of care.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the untapped potential of home-based clinical care, and the opportunity for a more robust set of services ranging from primary care to hospital-level treatment. The advent of telehealth, remote monitoring, digital therapeutics, provider home visiting, medical records sharing and other technology has shown that care in the home can be at least equivalent to, if not better than, care offered in facilities.
Different types of home health services have existed for decades, but these services are short-term and designed to help patients—mainly seniors—prevent or recover from an illness, injury or hospital stay. Making the home part of the regular options available to patients will allow for primary care, behavioral health, chronic disease management and even hospital-level care in the home.
Founding members of this coalition include Amazon Care, Landmark Health, Signify Health, Dispatch Health, Elara Caring, Intermountain Healthcare, Home Instead and Ascension.
"As a company whose mission it is to transform how care is delivered and paid for, Signify Health welcomes the establishment of this coalition to advance policies and practices that will activate the home as an alternate site of care," said Damien Doyle, MD, vice president of medical affairs at Signify Health.
"Over 17% of Medicare beneficiaries are living with six or more chronic conditions. In-home, patient-centered care is critical to managing the complex health needs of our nation's older adults. We need a public policy agenda that ensures access to innovative in-home care," said Nick Loporcaro, CEO at Landmark Health.
"We are thrilled to be joining forces with other leaders in home-based care to help remove barriers for patients across the nation while improving outcomes and increasing patient and provider satisfaction," said Kevin Riddleberger, co-founder, chief strategy officer at DispatchHealth.
"We are pleased to join the other founding members of the Moving Health Home Coalition to advocate for the expanded use of the home environment as a venue for robust patient care," said Elara Caring CEO scott powers. "As one of the nation's largest providers of homecare services, Elara Caring feels strongly that the current state of technology, care coordination, and caregiver capability is aligned to permit patients to choose treatment in their homes."
William A. Dombi, president of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice released this statement about the new coalition, "We have scheduled discussions with the coalition and look forward to collaborating on our longstanding goal of creating expanded opportunities for health care at home.”
Visit movinghealthhome.org for more information.
