Transcending Home Care

Send us Fan Mail How can home health and hospice organizations apply data to provide better patient care? What if data-driven predictive modeling could define with a high degree of certainty that a patient was on the verge of hospitalization … or pinpoint when a patient would die? What do future opportunities look like as artificial intelligence and machine learning make predictive modeling even m...

Send us Fan Mail Sometimes it’s good to put two “like minds” in a room and get them talking. You don’t have to ask us twice! Transcend’s Stan Massey and Tony Kudner sit down for a free-flowing conversation about the biggest trends in home-based care over the last 10 to 15 years, and discuss what skills might serve providers well in the years to come. With much of Transcend’s research, we aim to ha...

Send us Fan Mail Data is becoming increasingly engrained and revered in the world of healthcare. And, indeed, data is vitally important in improving medical science, measuring outcomes and proving the value of specific processes. Yet, as data continues to grow in priority, that emphasis can cause patients to feel like a number in an ever-expanding sea of numbers. Going back to Hippocrates, medicin...

Send us Fan Mail Value is more than a buzzword in home-based care these days. Agencies know that payers, policymakers and consumers are all expecting it in the care they provide. But where should a hospice or home care agency start when thinking about how to demonstrate that value? How do you create a value proposition when there isn’t yet a roadmap for doing so? It all begins with taking a step b...

Send us Fan Mail A financially viable home-based palliative care model is driven by appropriate practices, processes and logistics. A big part of establishing successful parameters comes from starting with a sensible staffing model. What are the right roles in a palliative care start-up? How should a provider schedule patient visits? What’s the proper mix of in-person visits versus support by phon...

Send us Fan Mail Most healthcare providers – especially providers of care at patients’ homes – started their organizations offering one particular service line. Whether that original service was home health, hospice, private duty nursing or something else, many organizations felt the need to expand their services and engage with patients for more needs over longer periods of time. When these organ...

Send us Fan Mail Due to the historically weak reimbursement stream from CMS for palliative care, providers often have been conflicted with providing this undeniably helpful service and staying out of the red while doing so. Some hospice providers started their palliative care service line with the mindset that it would be a “loss leader” – they expected to lose money on the service but hoped to bu...

Send us Fan Mail Most providers of home care are struggling with major staffing shortages – especially among nurses, CNAs and social workers. The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a new era of professionals reevaluating their careers, resulting in massive job changes and even “the Great Resignation.” Turnover among many healthcare providers is at record levels. Recently, Transcend Strategy Group and MA...

Send us Fan Mail It’s no secret that most seniors in America want to maintain their independence for as long as possible. In fact, according to the Disabled Living Foundation, the majority of seniors say they fear losing their independence more than they fear death. For many, a main hallmark of independence is being able to age in place. A survey by AARP revealed that 90% of Americans age 65 and o...

Send us Fan Mail COVID-19 magnified the need and desire for patients to stay out of hospitals if possible. A national survey conducted by Transcend Strategy Group revealed that more than 60% of family caregivers had greater confidence in the quality of care provided at home during the pandemic versus care in a facility. Plus, the repeating surges in COVID cases across the country pushed many hospi...

Send us Fan Mail COVID-19 ushered in an overwhelmingly stronger preference for patients to receive care at home rather than in a facility. A national survey by Transcend Strategy Group revealed that 60 percent of family healthcare decision makers are now more confident that quality care can be provided at home versus 33 percent feeling more confident in the quality of care at a facility.  This pre...

Send us Fan Mail When most people think of “home care” or “home health,” they think of clinical or skilled therapy services at home. However, as the “Silver Tsunami” of Baby Boomers continue to age, there’s an exponential need for nonclinical home care. By helping with activities of daily living, providing personal monitoring and supervision, serving as a companion, running errands and much more,...

Send us Fan Mail Many physicians view palliative care and hospice care as the same service – pain and symptom management for the very end of life. By not referring patients to palliative care early in a disease progression, the patients and their families may be missing out on valuable relief from physical, emotional and spiritual suffering. Annette Collier, MD, FACP – and a medical director for p...

Send us Fan Mail Whatever your opinion of the BLM movement, it has thrust the topic of true equality into a searing national spotlight – and has prompted many of us to reflect more deeply on the issue. In addition to risk factors regarding COVID-19 and minority populations, equality considerations have sparked renewed discussions on glaring disparities in healthcare across key demographics. Hospic...

Send us Fan Mail Palliative care may be the Rodney Dangerfield of healthcare. More accurately, palliative care does get major respect from those who know its value when properly applied – but too few truly understand the power of this specialty. In this conversation with host Stan Massey of Transcend, Melanie Marien, RPA-C – a nationally certified Physician Assistant and palliative care specialist...

Send us Fan Mail Providers of home health services, palliative care and hospice care often express disappointment and confusion regarding referral patterns by physicians. Many providers feel physicians don’t refer to them as early as they should or may be missing the full benefits they can provide to patients and families alike. What are common key barriers that get in the way of physicians making...

Send us Fan Mail If there are any upsides to COVID-19, catapulting necessary change is one of them. Healthcare already needed innovation before COVID-19 if providers are going to indeed achieve value-based care – and COVID-19 gave a kick in the pants to make some of these changes gain traction. In this conversation with host Stan Massey of Transcend, Devin Griffith, MPA, MSW – vice president of de...

Send us Fan Mail COVID-19’s lockdowns and quarantines magnified America’s awareness of social isolation – especially among our seriously ill and elderly populations. Yet social isolation has been a challenge for many seniors long before this pandemic. One valuable tool in overcoming isolation among seniors is adult day care – if it’s available and affordable. In this conversation with host Stan Ma...

Send us Fan Mail Months and months of preparation, training and concern went into preparing home health agencies for the change to PDGM.  Now that providers have been using PDGM for more than a full quarter, how are they adapting to the new system? In this conversation with host Stan Massey of Transcend, Jess Stover, principal, and Erin Masterson, consulting director, at BlackTree Healthcare Consu...

Send us Fan Mail With the no-contact demands of COVID-19, telehealth and other remote care tools were thrust into the national spotlight. CMS started to relax certain restrictions regarding telehealth, and the use of video conferences skyrocketed for remote care and communications among clinical teams, patients and their families. A common perception, however, is that telehealth mostly consists of...

Send us Fan Mail Physicians are trained to cure, or at least treat illnesses to stabilize patients and help them enjoy the highest quality of life possible. Perhaps that’s why many physicians struggle with difficult conversations when the prognosis isn’t good … especially a terminal condition.  Timothy Short, MD, has been a practicing physician for 33 years – 21 years as a family doctor and a pall...

Send us Fan Mail Accurate diagnosis and prognosis are crucial in determining a patient’s plan of care. Many look at a prognosis as an “event” – a moment in time when a prediction about a patient’s illness trajectory is made – when it’s really an ongoing process that typically changes over time. Especially because of these changing dynamics, how can clinicians be more accurate about prognoses? Chri...

Send us Fan Mail When a loved one is afflicted with a serious illness or a debilitating chronic condition, the family is often thrust into a new role of caregiver at their loved one’s home. Although a labor of love, the job can be very demanding, emotionally draining and physically exhausting. And many family members begin without the knowledge of where to turn for help. According to Nicole Claget...

Send us Fan Mail A basic requirement for any organization granted 501(c)3 not-for-profit status by the government is having an active Board of Directors. Traditionally, many organizations have built their boards by going down a checklist of desirable skills board members will have based on their careers. An attorney? Check. Financial guru? Check. Marketing professional? Check. But is this the best...

Send us Fan Mail Most providers of home health are worried about the impact PDGM will have on their operations, staffing and reimbursement. There’s been a lot of discussion about the challenges … but not so much about the opportunities PDGM may bring. Mark Hunt – vice president of the home health division of Covenant Care and a veteran of some of the biggest national brands in home health – explor...