There is safety in numbers! This has been a proven fact for many in the business world. Banding together and creating a team is always more advantageous and successful than working alone. There is change on the horizon in the health care field. Larger home health agencies are simply going to be better equipped at handling this difficult time. Home health agencies associated with certain hospitals will also be better off.
Pay For Performance
Home health agencies are currently poised on the edge of major health care changes. Whether these agencies agree with the upcoming changes will not matter. Pay for performance payments are one of the first changes being made. Pay for performance is a payment for previously established goals for patient treatment defined by an insurance company. Basically, as long as the health care facility or staff meets the goals they will receive payment. Although, the better the treatment the larger the payment will be. The pay for performance guidelines have been created with patient safety in mind. It was done in hopes that hospitals and health care facilities would be more responsible and provide better patient care. It is a noble concept and it will probably make health care facilities everywhere step up the care level a notch or two. These facilities are going to have to work much harder for each dollar they make.
Merging Facilities
Some large hospital systems have begun purchasing other medical facilities and home health companies in their states. The hope and the idea is that there will be a better chance of surviving these changes if they are in a collective group. Also larger home health companies will be more likely to provide more specialized assistance such as tele-health programs, medical monitoring and case management which will be a plus and probably gain interest from prospective clients.
Working Together to Prevent Re-Hospitalizations
Issues like repeated hospitalizations of patients are going to go against health care facilities, causing a serious financial decline. With larger home health care agencies the patients can be monitored and cared for at home which will hopefully help to reduce these problems. Every hospital system is going to see the need and importance of having home care involvement. The difficult part is going to be navigating the billing process successfully and actually making a profit.
These new changes are important because they will help in making health care safer and ultimately better for the patient. It will create a lot of difficulty for the medical facilities because they are going to really have to be on top of their skills. They are going to have to increase customer service and offer services that are unique and useful to both the patient and the physicians. All the while, health care facilities and home health agencies will have to remember that there are even more changes to come and some of them may be even more difficult to deal with.
Kristie Jernigan - Kristie Janeway Jernigan has worked in the health care arena for over 20 years. She has a Masters degree in Health Administration and is ...
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