BREAKING NEWS: Health (2)

Salmonella Infections Linked To Contaminated Basil Sold At Trader Joe's, CDC Warns

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 07:05:29 +0000

The CDC has received reports of 12 Salmonella infections in seven states.

Surge in Newborn Syphilis Cases Prompts Call For More Screening During Pregnancy

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 06:50:27 +0000

As per the updated recommendation from ACOG, pregnant individuals should be screened for syphilis three times during pregnancy.

Metabolic Health At Time Of Vaccination Decides Effectiveness Of Flu Shots: Study

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 05:23:20 +0000

The researchers found that switching obese mice to a healthy diet before flu vaccination completely protected them from a lethal dose of flu, despite their BMI (Body Mass Index). However, changing the diet after vaccination did not help.

Study finds high microplastic levels in Mediterranean fish despite low chemical contaminants

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 05:01:00 +0000

Researchers in a recent study published in the journal Foods discovered high levels of microplastics in popular Mediterranean fish species, despite low levels of cadmium and antibiotics, highlighting ongoing environmental concerns.

Monoclonal antibody Prasinezumab shows promise in slowing rapid Parkinson's progression

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 04:40:00 +0000

A recent study in Nature Medicine evaluated the efficacy of prasinezumab, a monoclonal antibody, in slowing the progression of motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease patients with rapidly progressing forms, using phase II clinical trial data.

AI rivals humans in ophthalmology exams: GPT-4's impressive diagnostic skills showcased

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 03:59:00 +0000

Researchers compared the clinical knowledge of large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4 to human experts in ophthalmology, revealing that GPT-4 can match or surpass trainee doctors in diagnostic reasoning on standardized tests.

Study reveals key protein's role in balancing immune response to viral infections

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 03:54:00 +0000

Researchers have revealed the regulatory mechanism of a specific protein that plays a key role in balancing the immune response triggered by viral infections in mammal cells.

New insights to optimize telehealth for diabetes care

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 03:52:00 +0000

Grocery stores, airports and beaches aren't great places to have telehealth visits with your endocrinologist.

Animal study suggests early Western diet exposure linked to lasting memory issues

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 03:48:00 +0000

Researchers find that early exposure to a Western diet in rats leads to long-lasting impairments in hippocampus-dependent memory, mediated by disruptions in acetylcholine signaling.

Dietary treatments outperform medications for IBS management

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 03:43:06 +0000

Dietary treatment is more effective than medications in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). These are the findings of a study conducted at the University of Gothenburg.

Aging affects immune response and virus dynamics in COVID-19 patients, study finds

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 03:35:00 +0000

A study examining 1031 hospitalized COVID-19 patients found that aging significantly impacts immune responses, viral dynamics, and the nasal microbiome, with older adults experiencing more severe disease symptoms and delayed viral clearance.

Rice University bioengineers receive $1.4M to combat osteoarthritis

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 03:34:36 +0000

Bioengineers at Rice University have been awarded $1.4 million as part of a multi-center consortium funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to develop strategies for reversing the effects of osteoarthritis.

Newsom offers a compromise to protect indoor workers from heat

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 03:09:34 +0000

Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration has compromised on long-sought rules that would protect indoor workers from extreme heat, saying tens of thousands of prison and jail employees — and prisoners — would have to wait for relief.

After Partnership With CD&R, Elevance Health Continues To Bet On Its Provider Services Arm

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 21:55:11 +0000

Elevance Health (NYSE: ELV) continues to point to its provider capabilities – which include home-based care services – as a strategic priority.

The company has partnered with the private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) on a primary care initiative that will bring together Carelon Health – Elevance Health’s provider arm – and apree health and Millennium Physician group, two CD&R-backed companies.

“CD&R’s collaboration with Elevance Health is an important step in our ongoing investment focus to accelerate innovation in care delivery across the country,” Clay Richards, a CD&R operating partner, said in a press release Monday. “We are excited to enter into this strategic partnership with Elevance Health and for what this effort can accomplish, drawing out the strengths of each of the three companies to improve the patient and physician experience for the communities they serve.”

The initiative specifically is aimed at taking a “whole health approach” to primary care, focused on patients’ physical, social and behavioral health needs.

Elevance Health Gail Boudreaux expanded on the partnership in her company’s first-quarter earnings call Thursday.

“We’re excited to collaborate with CD&R and a broad range of care provider partners to accelerate innovation, enhance healthcare experiences and improve health outcomes for consumers,” Boudreaux said. “The collaborative development of the business will advance our enterprise strategy by accelerating the provision of value-based care for our members and consumers more broadly, with our Carelon businesses providing capabilities to integrate and personalize the care delivered.”

Eventually, Elevance Health plans to fully own what comes of the partnership, and Boudreaux expects it to be a “leading platform for value-based care” across payer groups.

In the first quarter, Elevance Health posted operating revenue of $42.3 billion, which was a 0.9% year-over-year increase.

Carelon, on the other hand, brought in $12.1 billion in operating revenue in the first quarter, a $600 million or about a 5% year-over-year increase.

Elevance Health also recently bolstered its provider capabilities through the acquisition of Paragon Healthcare, an infusion provider that also delivers care in the home.

“In the first quarter, we made tangible progress on our strategic initiatives, notably in Carelon, where we continue to scale our flywheel for enterprise growth,” Boudreaux said. “Carelon closed its acquisition of Paragon Healthcare, a leading provider of infusion services. We are looking forward to expanding its geographic reach and therapeutic coverage to serve more consumers and Elevance Health members for years to come.”

Elevance Health certainly has its hands in home-based care across its portfolio, but has not yet fully dived in.

Recent acquisitions and launched initiatives, however, could be a sign of things to come.

The post After Partnership With CD&R, Elevance Health Continues To Bet On Its Provider Services Arm appeared first on Home Health Care News.

Traditions Health Promotes Within For VP Of Operations Role; Interim HealthCare Taps New VP Of Clinical Quality

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 20:40:03 +0000

Traditions Health taps new VP of operations

The large home health and hospice provider Traditions Health has named Angela Collins as the vice president of operations.

In her role, she will specifically be responsible for home health branches in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. She will also take part in – and oversee – growth initiatives.

“Angie’s collaborative efforts have significantly contributed to increasing operational efficiency,” Traditions Health COO Tony Maxwell said in a statement. “Her dedication to continuous improvement and her ability to inspire her team have been pivotal in driving success.”

Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Traditions Health is a home health, hospice and palliative care provider with a footprint that spans across 130 locations and 18 states. It cares for more than 25,000 patients per year.

The company also announced a new VP of finance last month.

Collins was originally with Trinity Valley Home Health – as director of nursing – before the company was acquired by Traditions Health. She has been promoted multiple times within Traditions.

“I’m very excited for this next chapter of my career with Traditions and cannot wait to share my passion for home health,” she said in a statement.

Interim HealthCare’s new VP of clinical quality

Interim HealthCare has named Donna Merritt as vice president of clinical quality.

“We’re thrilled to bring Donna on board to serve in the pivotal function of setting Interim HealthCare’s clinical direction,” Interim HealthCare President and CEO Paul Mastrapa said in a statement. “Clinical care is at the core of everything we do, and Donna’s background and track record of success make her uniquely suited to work with our franchisees across the nation to further the company’s long tradition of clinical excellence.”

A part of Caring Brands International, the Sunrise, Florida-based Interim HealthCare is a home care and home health care franchise brand with over 330 locations across the U.S.

Merritt has extensive home-based care experience. She was previously the regional director of operations at Bayada Home Health Care, and before that, spent time with Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED).

A Place For Mom’s next CEO

The senior care referral company A Place For Mom (APFM) has announced that Tatyana Zlotsky will be its next CEO, with current CEO Larry Kutscher set to step away on May 2.

Kutscher will become the chairman of the company’s board of directors.

“It has been a privilege to lead APFM over the past five years. We delivered strong revenue growth and assembled a world-class team, all in service of fulfilling the needs of underserved family caregivers,” Kutscher said in the announcement. “Tatyana… is the right leader for the next phase of our continued growth, and I look forward to continuing to work with her in my role as chairman.”

Traditionally focused on the senior living space, APFM has gotten much more involved in home care placement over the last few years.

Zlotsky previously served as the chief marketing officer at APFM, as well as chief revenue officer and president. Prior to APFM, she worked at American Express (NYSE: AXP).

“A Place for Mom plays a key role in working with our 17,000+ community customers and home care providers to support the 50M+ family caregivers in the U.S., providing personalized guidance to help them make the right senior care decisions,” Zlotsky said in a statement. “I’m thankful to Larry and the board for this exciting opportunity. We have a strong foundation in place, and I look forward to leading our talented, mission-oriented team in our next phase of growth.”

Home care consulting group shakes up leadership team

The home health and home care consultant company Corcoran Consulting Group has named Guy Tommasi as its new president and CEO, while also promoting Holly Harringa to vice president and COO.

Tommasi is a home care industry veteran. Prior to joining Corcoran Consulting in 2023 as a managing consultant, he spent 13 years as the managing director of the Guilford, Connecticut-based Lifetime Care at Home. Before that role, he was the business and community development director of Masonicare, which is also based in Connecticut.

On Haringa’s end, she also joined Corcoran Consulting in 2023 as a consultant. Prior to that, she served as the client service manager at Lifetime Care at Home for 17 years.

“Guy and Holly are pivotal leaders of our organization,” Corcoran Consulting Group Principal Rich Corcoran said in a statement. “Their depth of industry knowledge, passion for helping people thrive in their homes, and support of our talented team will help us continue to provide outstanding service to our home health and home care agency clients. They are true leaders in elevating the home care profession.”

Based in North Haven, Connecticut, Corcoran Consulting provides operational, clinical, quality and financial solutions to support home health, hospice and private-duty home care agencies.

The post Traditions Health Promotes Within For VP Of Operations Role; Interim HealthCare Taps New VP Of Clinical Quality appeared first on Home Health Care News.

Don’t Worry, Gen Z, Your Face Isn’t Aging Faster Than Others

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 19:16:31 +0000

Some members of Generation Z are worried they are aging more quickly, thanks to social media influencers selling products. But skin care experts said the claim is false. Rather, it largely boils down to perception.

Changing Entrenched Health Beliefs Is Not Impossible

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 17:11:00 +0000

Some people with deep-rooted beliefs on a wide range of health topics – from COVID vaccination to mental health stigma to foods including genetically modified organisms – could be persuaded to rethink their positions.

Ultimate Comfort and Protection: Knowing The Importance of Blister Patches

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:42:27 +0000

We explore the significance of blister patches in alleviating discomfort and preventing further irritation caused by footwear among active individuals.

Siblings with unique genetic change help scientists progress drug search for type 1 diabetes

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:17:49 +0000

Two siblings who have the only known mutations in a key gene anywhere in the world have helped scientists gain new insights that could help progress the search for new treatments in type 1 diabetes.

New urine-based test detects high-grade prostate cancer, helping men avoid unnecessary biopsies

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:17:44 +0000

Researchers have developed a new urine-based test that addresses a major problem in prostate cancer: how to separate the slow-growing form of the disease unlikely to cause harm from more aggressive cancer that needs immediate treatment.

‘We’re Seeing Tons Of Opportunity’: Home-Based Care Buyers Deploy DIY M&A, Earnout Structures In 2024 Dealmaking Strategies

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 14:56:48 +0000

This article is a part of your HHCN+ Membership

Transaction volume for home health, home care and other in-home care businesses dipped in 2023, with inflation, higher interest rates and global unrest contributing to the downturn.

Many home-based care stakeholders anticipated M&A to rebound in 2024, however, thanks to increased loan activity in January, greater buyer-seller consensus and private equity’s record-high levels of “mature” dry powder.

With 2024’s first quarter in the rear-view mirror, the home-based care dealmaking outlook still looks to be a bit of a question mark.

“Things can change in a short amount of time and have a profound impact on the marketplace,” Mark Kulik, senior managing director at M&A advisory firm The Braff Group, said last week at the Home Health Care News Capital + Strategy Conference in Washington, D.C.

While it may be too soon to call 2024 a bull or bear market for M&A, I am starting to notice a few interesting trends, many of which surfaced at the Capital + Strategy Conference. Some of those trends include:

– The 2024 forecast for home-based care transaction volume is cloudier than just a few weeks ago, with the Federal Reserve seemingly more wary of interest-rate cuts.

– Buyers and sellers are increasingly aligned, though some sellers are still holding out for 2020- and 2021-level valuations. Some are bridging the buyer-seller gap with earnout structures.

– Investors are more optimistic about the current in-home care staffing environment, with many seeing labor pressures alleviating compared to the historically challenging stretch coming out of the public health emergency.

– While some buyers remain focused on a particular care lane, others continue to pursue continuum and diversification strategies.

– More acquirers are touting their proprietary M&A strategies. Unsurprisingly, the No. 1 business characteristic buyers are targeting: quality.

In this week’s exclusive, members-only HHCN+ Update, I share some of my biggest takeaways from our conference.

Monetary-policy whiplash

Home-based care transaction volume plummeted in 2023, mirroring the broader global health care dealmaking trend. Some of the dip was a return to mean, with 2021 experiencing record M&A activity and 2022’s action robust as well.

The cost of capital was arguably the primary hindrance to dealmaking, with the Federal Reserve attempting to control inflation via its most impactful economic tool: interest-rate policy. From March 2022 through July 2023, the U.S. central bank has raised the fed funds rate by more than five percentage points, making no fewer than 11 individual hikes.

“This is akin to the Fed jamming the brakes on the monetary policy to help slow down the economy because inflation was occurring,” Kulik explained at the Capital + Strategy Conference.

Going into 2024, the Federal Reserve had signaled intentions to cut rates, with relief possible coming in the second or third quarter. That gave home-based care buyers and sellers reason for optimism.

That excitement has dissipated over the last week. As recently as Tuesday, officials explained that inflation remains more stubborn than they anticipated, meaning interest rate rates will likely stay high.

“Right now, given the strength of the labor market and progress on inflation so far, it’s appropriate to allow restrictive policy further time to work and let the data and the evolving outlook guide us,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told a forum in Washington.

At the Capital + Strategy Conference, it felt like the discussions around the broader U.S. economic climate were giving buyers and sellers whiplash. In turn, I see buyers and investors operating with the same conservative mentality on display in 2023.

Still, one factor that could mitigate that is the ample dry powder that private investors are sitting on, according to Bain & Company data, which Kulik cited during a presentation at our event. With about 26% of global buyout dry powder now four years or older, some are feeling heightened urgency to get deals done.

“Investors gave them money to invest in buy, and they didn’t deploy it,” Kulik explained. “And there’s pressure on private equity to deploy that cash because investors want a return on their money. They don’t want to just let it park in a savings account in a bank.”

The Braff Group’s Mark Kulik speaks at the 2024 HHCN Capital + Strategy Conference in Washington, D.C.

Narrowing the gap

Home-based care sellers in 2023 valued their businesses at 2020 and 2021 levels, when valuations for home health, home care and hospice providers were extremely high. There is still a gap between today’s more conservative buyers and hopeful sellers, but it’s beginning to shrink, multiple executives said at the Capital + Strategy Conference.

“I do feel like that gap between expectation and what buyers are willing to pay has come closer – considerably,” Cameron Cordts, corporate development manager for PurposeCare, said at the event.

Backed by Lorient Capital, PurposeCare is a home health and home care provider focused on building density in the Midwest. The provider has announced several acquisitions over the past couple years, including three at the start of 2024.

In some cases, the gap is closing because of segment-specific factors, such as fee-for-service Medicare rates or the looming 80/20 rule in Medicaid. These and similar industry-specific challenges become the final straw for some prospective sellers.

In others, sellers have finally come to realize that buyers aren’t willing to pay 2020 and 2021 terms. Having been on the market for an extended period, these sellers have now accepted their fate.

“It is starting to shift a little bit,” Mike Trigilio, CEO of HouseWorks, said at the Capital + Strategy Conference. “There are some [sellers] coming on the market in the last few months that probably waited through 2023, that weren’t around last year. We’re seeing tons of opportunity.”

The InTandem Capital-backed HouseWorks has been one of the most acquisitive home-based care companies since late 2021, with its purchases including the personal care division of Amedisys (Nasdaq: AMED), Elite Home Health Care and several others. Service and payer diversification have been two of the company’s core M&A pillars.

Some buyers are taking it upon themselves to bridge the divide between acquirers and sellers. One way to do so is through deal earnout structures.

Care Advantage – the home-based care company backed by Searchlight Capital – has been successful with this approach, according to Jaron Clay, the company’s VP of integrations. Care Advantage has completed close to two dozen transactions since 2018, with Nova Home Health Care one of its more recent acquisitions.

Four of its last five deals have included earnout structures, Clay noted.

“We’ve pushed a lot more toward doing earnout structures on a lot of our deals,” he said at the event. “That’s a way for us to have the certainty that we want around this business not falling off the cliff when the owner/operator leaves. But it also is a way for us to actually give that person more money – maybe not all on Day 1. They’re getting some of it 12 months or 24 months down the road.”

I do feel like that gap between expectation and what buyers are willing to pay has come closer – considerably.”
– Cameron Cordts, corporate development manager, PurposeCare

Staffing success paying off

Another frequent comment I heard during the Capital + Strategy Conference: Home-based care staffing challenges are leveling off.

“Across our portfolio, we’ve seen improvements,” Scott Plumridge, managing partner at the Halifax Group, said at the conference. “I think our operators would characterize it as easier, but still not easy.”

The Halifax Group in September acquired the worldwide home care division of Sodexo, including the Comfort Keepers brand.

Contextually, home health, home care and hospice agencies have long faced a staffing deficit. Demand for aging-in-place and end-of-life care services is increasing faster than supply – and that will remain true as baby boomers transition into their 65+ era.

But the overall labor market is improving, and home-based care providers are also getting better at attracting and retaining talent.

Altarum’s most recent Health Sector Economic Indicators brief supports this notion. In March, the seasonally adjusted change in employment was 8.5% for home health care services, up from the 24-month mark of 6.6%.

That’s among the strongest employment gains in all of health care.

Kenneth Hammond, the chief investment officer for Kaltroco, echoed Plumridge’s comments.

“2022 was the moment of the most intense [staffing] pressure,” said Hammond, whose organization is the investment partner of New Day Healthcare. “And certainly, the situation has gotten better.”

While overall labor-market improvement is helping the staffing situation stabilize, the provider-driven efforts making a dent include sign-on bonuses and other enhanced benefits, smarter scheduling, the automation of non-care functions and more.

Scott Plumridge and Kenneth Hammond speak at the Capital + Strategy Conference.

The continuum of care

Although there are certainly still buyers that prefer to focus on one core service, forward-looking in-home care operators continue to build out a complete continuum of care. I view this strategy as a long-term trend propelled by value-based care and the consumerization of health care.

New Day is among the home-based care companies that consider the care continuum in M&A opportunities.

“We are open minded to good businesses across the board, from skilled home health, to Medicaid [personal care], to hospice,” Hammond said. “From a platform standpoint, as we enter new states, we like businesses that have begun to solve that [continuum] problem, right? We look for companies that have at least two of the three legs of the stool, so that we can deploy organic growth to go pursue that continuum strategy that we bring data into.”

Having a continuum of home-based care service lines allows providers to maintain longitudinal relationships with clients. An older adult may turn to non-medical home care for activities of daily living (ADL) support, but that could eventually turn into a home health or hospice relationship.

Payers also appreciate providers with diverse service offerings.

“Our goal is to create a continuum of care, primarily leading with home care on the non-skilled side, then supplementing with home health care,” Cordts said.

Cameron Cordts, right, speaks at the Capital + Strategy Conference. Pictured to the left: Mike Trigilio of HouseWorks.

At the Capital + Strategy Conference, it was evident to me that continuum and diversification strategies included far more than just home care, home health and hospice. Companies such as Care Advantage, for instance, are working to build care continuums for specific populations.

“We’ve really been focusing on being disciplined around what we’re very, very good at, which is personal care,” Clay said. “How can we do some of those things that aren’t a hop, skip and jump away from that, but a step away from that?”

An example: Care Advantage has acquired home care providers that specialize in certain cultural demographics. This creates strong provider-client relationships while also differentiating Care Advantage in those markets.

“That has proven to be a very sticky business, a very profitable business for us,” Clay continued. “But most importantly, a really rewarding one.”

We’ve really been focusing on being disciplined around what we’re very, very good at, which is personal care. How can we do some of those things that aren’t a hop, skip and jump away from that, but a step away from that?
– Jaron Clay, VP of integrations, Care Advantage

Active acquirers tout DIY M&A

The M&A process can be a taxing one, so it’s not a shock that many buyers and sellers enlist the help of an expert dealmaking facilitator. That’s not always the case, though, with even some of the largest in-home care providers in the country previously touting their internal M&A efforts.

While at the helm as the CEO of Amedisys, Paul Kusserow was always keen on highlighting the provider’s proprietary M&A process.

“We built our own proprietary M&A function that can find these assets,” Kusserow told me in 2018. “We bought [Compassionate Care Hospice] way below what the market has been trading at for these assets. Hopefully this will start a trend where people are not overpaying for these things because some of the prices that have been out there are ridiculous.”

At the Capital + Strategy Conference, it felt like more providers were making similar remarks.

At HouseWorks, a majority of the company’s previous 10 deals were sourced internally, Trigilio said. Quality is usually the starting point in those processes, he added.

“The key ingredients are compliance and quality,” he said. ”The care delivery is always at the beginning of all these transactions.”

Mike Trigilio speaks about HouseWorks’ M&A strategy at the Capital + Strategy Conference.

The same holds true for PurposeCare, according to Cordts.

“They’re not as competitive, but typically involve maybe a little bit more time for my team, and myself, bringing that seller along in the process,” he said. “That’s been the majority of our growth in the last year or so – harvesting those proprietary leads and educating sellers on where the market is at, and what those expectations can lead to.”

The post ‘We’re Seeing Tons Of Opportunity’: Home-Based Care Buyers Deploy DIY M&A, Earnout Structures In 2024 Dealmaking Strategies appeared first on Home Health Care News.

Hypertension Raises Uterine Fibroid Risk, Blood Pressure Medication Can Help Minimize It: Study

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 09:11:53 +0000

Recent research has identified another risk linked to hypertension in women: an increased likelihood of developing uterine fibroids.

Medicare’s Push To Improve Chronic Care Attracts Businesses, but Not Many Doctors

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Carrie Lester looks forward to the phone call every Thursday from her doctors’ medical assistant, who asks how she’s doing and if she needs prescription refills. The assistant counsels her on dealing with anxiety and her other health issues.

Lester credits the chats for keeping her out of the hospital and reducing the need for clinic visits to manage chronic conditions including depression, fibromyalgia, and hypertension.

“Just knowing someone is going to check on me is comforting,” said Lester, 73, who lives with her dogs, Sophie and Dolly, in Independence, Kansas.

At least two-thirds of Medicare enrollees have two or more chronic health conditions, federal data shows. That makes them eligible for a federal program that, since 2015, has rewarded doctors for doing more to manage their health outside office visits.

But while early research found the service, called Chronic Care Management, reduced emergency room and in-patient hospital visits and lowered total health spending, uptake has been sluggish.

Federal data from 2019 shows just 4% of potentially eligible enrollees participated in the program, a figure that appears to have held steady through 2023, according to a Mathematica analysis. About 12,000 physicians billed Medicare under the CCM mantle in 2021, according to the latest Medicare data analyzed by KFF Health News. (The Medicare data includes doctors who have annually billed CCM at least a dozen times.)

By comparison, federal data shows about 1 million providers participate in Medicare.

Even as the strategy has largely failed to live up to its potential, thousands of physicians have boosted their annual pay by participating, and auxiliary for-profit businesses have sprung up to help doctors take advantage of the program. The federal data showed about 4,500 physicians received at least $100,000 each in CCM pay in 2021.

Through the CCM program, Medicare pays to develop a patient care plan, coordinate treatment with specialists, and regularly check in with beneficiaries. Medicare pays doctors a monthly average of $62 per patient, for 20 minutes of work with each, according to companies in the business.

Without the program, providers often have little incentive to spend time coordinating care because they can’t bill Medicare for such services.

Health policy experts say a host of factors limit participation in the program. Chief among them is that it requires both doctors and patients to opt in. Doctors may not have the capacity to regularly monitor patients outside office visits. Some also worry about meeting the strict Medicare documentation requirements for reimbursement and are reluctant to ask patients to join a program that may require a monthly copayment if they don’t have a supplemental policy.

“This program had potential to have a big impact,” said Kenneth Thorpe, an Emory University health policy expert on chronic diseases. “But I knew it was never going to work from the start because it was put together wrong.”

He said most doctors’ offices are not set up for monitoring patients at home. “This is very time-intensive and not something physicians are used to doing or have time to do,” Thorpe said.

For patients, the CCM program is intended to expand the type of care offered in traditional, fee-for-service Medicare to match benefits that — at least in theory — they may get through Medicare Advantage, which is administered by private insurers.

But the CCM program is open to both Medicare and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries.

The program was also intended to boost pay to primary care doctors and other physicians who are paid significantly less by Medicare than specialists, said Mark Miller, a former executive director of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which advises Congress. He’s currently an executive vice president of Arnold Ventures, a philanthropic organization focused on health policy. (The organization has also provided funding for KFF Health News.)

Despite the allure of extra money, some physicians have been put off by the program’s upfront costs.

“It may seem like easy money for a physician practice, but it is not,” said Namirah Jamshed, a physician at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Jamshed said the CCM program was cumbersome to implement because her practice was not used to documenting time spent with patients outside the office, a challenge that included finding a way to integrate the data into electronic health records. Another challenge was hiring staff to handle patient calls before her practice started getting reimbursed by the program.

Only about 10% of the practice’s Medicare patients are enrolled in CCM, she said.

Jamshed said her practice has been approached by private companies looking to do the work, but the practice demurred out of concerns about sharing patients’ health information and the cost of retaining the companies. Those companies can take more than half of what Medicare pays doctors for their CCM work.

Physician Jennifer Bacani McKenney, who runs a family medicine practice in Fredonia, Kansas, with her father — where Carrie Lester is a patient — said the CCM program has worked well.

She said having a system to keep in touch with patients at least once a month has reduced their use of emergency rooms — including for some who were prone to visits for nonemergency reasons, such as running out of medication or even feeling lonely. The CCM funding enables the practice’s medical assistant to call patients regularly to check in, something it could not afford before.

For a small practice, having a staffer who can generate extra revenue makes a big difference, McKenney said.

While she estimates about 90% of their patients would qualify for the program, only about 20% are enrolled. One reason is that not everyone needs or wants the calls, she said.

While the program has captured interest among internists and family medicine doctors, it has also paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars to specialists, such as those in cardiology, urology, and gastroenterology, the KFF Health News analysis found. Primary care doctors are often seen as the ones who coordinate patient care, making the payments to specialists notable.

A federally funded study by Mathematica in 2017 found the CCM program saves Medicare $74 per patient per month, or $888 per patient per year — due mostly to a decreased need for hospital care.

The study quoted providers who were unhappy with attempts to outsource CCM work. “Third-party companies out there turn this into a racket,” the study cited one physician as saying, noting companies employ nurses who don’t know patients.

Nancy McCall, a Mathematica researcher who co-authored the 2017 study, said doctors are not the only resistance point. “Patients may not want to be bothered or asked if they are exercising or losing weight or watching their salt intake,” she said.

Still, some physician groups say it’s convenient to outsource the program.

UnityPoint Health, a large integrated health system based in Iowa, tried doing chronic care management on its own, but found it administratively burdensome, said Dawn Welling, the UnityPoint Clinic’s chief nursing officer.

For the past year, it has contracted with a Miami-based company, HealthSnap, to enroll patients, have its nurses make check-in calls each month, and help with billing. HealthSnap helps manage care for over 16,000 of UnityHealth’s Medicare patients — a small fraction of its Medicare patients, which includes those enrolled in Medicare Advantage.

Some doctors were anxious about sharing patient records and viewed the program as a sign they weren’t doing enough for patients, Welling said. But she said the program has been helpful, particularly to many enrollees who are isolated and need help changing their diet and other behaviors to improve health.

“These are patients who call the clinic regularly and have needs, but not always clinical needs,” Welling said.

Samson Magid, CEO of HealthSnap, said more doctors have started participating in the CCM program since Medicare increased pay in 2022 for 20 minutes of work, to $62 from $41, and added billing codes for additional time.

To help ensure patients pick up the phone, caller ID shows HealthSnap calls as coming from their doctor’s office, not from wherever the company’s nurse might be located. The company also hires nurses from different regions so they may speak with dialects similar to those of the patients they work with, Magid said.

He said some enrollees have been in the program for three years and many could stay enrolled for life — which means they can bill patients and Medicare long-term.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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Make Brains Work Hard At Job: Study Says It Guards Against Memory Issues Later

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 07:41:58 +0000

The study revealed that actively engaging your brain in your profession can lower your risk of experiencing memory and cognitive issues as you age.

Quitting Smoking During Pregnancy Causes Weight Gain, But Benefits Outweigh: Study

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 06:16:24 +0000

The advantages of quitting outweigh the risks associated with ongoing smoking, such as stillbirths and premature deliveries, the study revealed.

Study identifies new metric for diagnosing autism

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:28:44 +0000

Autism spectrum disorder has yet to be linked to a single cause, due to the wide range of its symptoms and severity. However, a recent study suggests a promising new approach to finding answers, one that could lead to advances in the study of other neurological conditions.

Researchers create new AI pipeline for identifying molecular interactions

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:28:37 +0000

AI developments in chemical biology could unlock new types of disease treatments.

Paper: To understand cognition--and its dysfunction--neuroscientists must learn its rhythms

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:28:29 +0000

Thought emerges and is controlled in the brain via the rhythmically and spatially coordinated activity of millions of neurons, scientists argue in a new article. Understanding cognition and its disorders requires studying it at that level.

Protecting brain cells with cannabinol

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:28:26 +0000

Scientists created four cannabis-derived CBN analogs (chemical look-a-likes) with enhanced neuroprotective properties and potential for therapeutic application in neurological disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and traumatic brain injury. Their findings reveal novel aspects of CBN's neuroprotective activity and demonstrate the clinical potential of CBN and value of studying its analogs.

Does using your brain more at work help ward off thinking, memory problems?

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:28:23 +0000

The harder your brain works at your job, the less likely you may be to have memory and thinking problems later in life, according to a new study. This study does not prove that stimulating work prevents mild cognitive impairment. It only shows an association.

Guidance on energy and macronutrients across the lifespan

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:28:19 +0000

In the long history of recommendations for nutritional intake, current research is trending toward the concept of 'food as medicine' -- a philosophy in which food and nutrition are positioned within interventions to support health and wellness.

Calorie restriction study reveals complexities in how diet impacts aging

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:28:16 +0000

The rate at which human cells age is influenced by multiple interconnected factors. New research examined how restricting calories influences telomere length and biological aging.

Global study reveals health impacts of airborne trace elements

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:27:48 +0000

Researchers investigated global particulate matter, revealing health risks from trace elements.

New data identifies trends in accidental opioid overdoses in children

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:27:36 +0000

The US saw a 22% decline in rates of prescription-opioid overdose related emergency department (ED) visits in children 17 and younger between 2008 and 2019, but an uptick in the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study. The authors also note that rates of pediatric opioid overdoses remain high in many populations.

Artificial Intelligence beats doctors in accurately assessing eye problems

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:27:12 +0000

A study has found that the AI model GPT-4 significantly exceeds the ability of non-specialist doctors to assess eye problems and provide advice.

Researchers find that accelerated aging biology in the placenta contributes to a rare form of pregnancy-related heart failure

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:27:03 +0000

In a new study, researchers show that elevated levels of proteins related to cellular senescence, or aging, in the blood and the placenta are linked to this form of heart failure.

Elara Caring Partners With Constant Therapy Health To Drive AI, Time-Saving Solutions

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 21:30:25 +0000

Elara Caring has teamed up with the digital health company Constant Therapy Health. The partnership will enable Elara Caring to deliver AI-driven speech-language and cognitive therapy across multiple markets.

“[The partnership] very much honors our values of exceptional service, innovation and results,” Thomas Southern, administrator of skilled home health at Elara Caring, told Home Health Care News. “To be able to partner with a company like Constant Therapy Health allows us to deliver a very dynamic solution to the patients we serve. It’s an innovative approach that allows us to lean into the use of technology in a way that’s meaningful, both to the patients and caregivers.”

Dallas-based Elara Caring is a home-based care provider with about 200 locations across 17 states. The company serves more than 60,000 patients.

Constant Therapy Health’s platform is an application that allows clinicians to more deeply interact with patients.

“Elara Caring, a trailblazer in the home health industry, is revolutionizing patient care through cutting-edge technology and data-driven solutions,” Veera Anantha, founder and CEO of Constant Therapy Health, said in a press statement. “As we collaborate with Elara Caring, we’re excited to contribute to their mission of delivering exceptional, personalized care to every patient they serve who is diagnosed with a neurological disorder or brain injury.”

Constant Therapy Health’s platform uses 85 different evidence-based speech-language and cognitive therapy interventions.

“Think of patients with mild cognitive impairment, or early to mid-stage Alzheimer’s, CBA patients, stroke patients, people with aphasia,” Southern said. “It has a speech recognition algorithm within it, so we can also target things like voice. It really gives us the ability to extend our reach in the home with an evidence-based format.”

In addition to extending care in the home, the partnership also alleviates some of the documentation burden on clinicians. Specifically, clinicians were able to shave 10-15 minutes off of documentation time, per patient.

Overall, the partnership led to increased time savings, specifically 60-90 minutes per day for a clinician with a six-patient caseload.

“That really feeds into that work-life balance, and gives them back that time in their day to be with their families and enjoying life,” Southern said.

Before the full-scale roll out of the partnership, Elara Caring launched a pilot program with Constant Therapy last year, which took place over the course of six months. The pilot program included 115 patients across three markets.

The program resulted in 92,000 additional exercises independently at home, 17% increase in task accuracy and 54% improvement in task processing speed.

Ultimately, Southern believes that this partnership is part of Elara Caring’s larger embrace of innovation in relation to care delivery.

“We want to provide the best care possible in the home and to be able to help people through whatever struggling moment they have,” he said.

The post Elara Caring Partners With Constant Therapy Health To Drive AI, Time-Saving Solutions appeared first on Home Health Care News.

Facing My Smoking Triggers

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 20:52:38 +0000

Smoking Triggers: Learn to identify and manage triggers to quit smoking.

Get Past Your Fears About Quitting Smoking

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 20:51:23 +0000

Common quit smoking fears are debunked by experts, who offer tips on how to face and overcome worries such as weight gain or becoming stressed out.

Surprise Pregnancy: Could It Happen to You?

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 20:14:05 +0000

Almost half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned. Find out how this happens so often, from user error to irregular periods.

Why BrightStar Care Founder Shelly Sun Is Tapping A New CEO To Lead Her Business

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 19:27:43 +0000

COVID-19 took a lot out of Americans, both personally and professionally.

For Shelly Sun, the founder and then-CEO of BrightStar Care, 100-hour work weeks in 2020 and 2021 became commonplace. Sun was no stranger to hard work. She had led her company from a single location home care agency to a nationwide home care franchise brand, after all.

But even she had finally reached the point of burnout.

Effective earlier this year, she is no longer the CEO of BrightStar Care, and instead the founder and executive chairwoman. But the transition has been on her mind for a while.

In February of 2022, at an annual franchisee conference in Dallas, Texas, Sun sat down with one of her most successful franchisees: Andrew Ray.

It was at that point she began to feel like she had someone who could reasonably replace her, and hold the brand as dear to their heart as she did – and does.

“I saw the unwavering energy and passion he has for something he really cares about,” Sun told Home Health Care News. “And he cares about BrightStar Care. He cares about the team. He cares about our franchisees and our customers that we have the honor to serve every single day. I think you first have to evaluate the character of a person when you’re talking about the brand. Andy checked those boxes perfectly. He also has an amazing intellect and ability to communicate with our franchisees: to say why something’s necessary, and maybe go slower on the communication than I would.”

Based in the Chicagoland area and founded by Sun in 2002, BrightStar Care is a home care franchise with more than 380 locations across the country. About 10% of its network is now corporate-owned. The company also provides medical home health services, as well as supplemental staffing services to businesses. Overall, the company employs more than 15,000 caregivers and 5,700 registered nurses.

Ray transitioned into a COO role for BrightStar Care in 2022, but he was operating two Arizona franchise locations prior to that.

He had decided to delve into home care after years of holding leadership positions overseas, mostly for health care companies. His career path took him to Japan with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), to Belgium and France with Gambro, and to Sweden and Germany with the Getinge Group.

After deciding to stay stateside for a while, he was looking for his next move. A friend introduced him to the home care business.

“I contacted an old friend of mine who got into the home care business, and I knew nothing about it. I had really no idea what it was,” Ray told HHCN. “I started talking to him, and I spent some time with him in his offices in Indiana. I got very excited about two aspects of the business. One was the business [side itself]: What would it be like, the challenges of a small business owner? That’s something I’d never experienced. Then the home care piece kind of brought a couple of things together. If I worked really hard and did a very good job, I was going to improve and enhance people’s lives.”

That would lead to Ray opening up shop under the BrightStar name, and eventually establishing a relationship with Sun. He would go on to win the IFA 2021 Franchisee of the Year award after operating Arizona locations in Mesa and Gilbert.

The opportunity to become part of the executive team at BrightStar was one Ray didn’t want to pass up on.

At the same time, it offered Sun the chance to pass things over to an insider. She was wary of handing the keys over to an outsider, a feeling partly driven by conversations with her friend and BrightStar Care board member Boris Groysberg, a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.

“Boris and I, when we started talking about it, he saw how much I was working, and he was very concerned that I was going to reach burnout,” Sun said. “And he said, ‘You are going to have a much better chance at this if you have an insider versus an outsider. Because an insider is going to understand the brand, why it ticks and why you do what you do.’”

Ray already had the insider’s perspective, and his appointment to CEO has likely given other BrightStar Care franchisees the assurance that the next person to bring on a franchise-wide change will be someone that has been in their shoes.

“If it wasn’t for the franchisor looking down the road, and bringing information back to me and helping me understand how I had to position my business for the future, I don’t think it would have worked very well for me,” Ray said. “So, a lot of what I’m trying to do now is be that lighthouse, but package it in a way that an owner can understand, knowing I walked in their shoes. I get 1% of their mind share, because the other 99% is running their business.”

What’s next for BrightStar Care

Earlier this year, Sun told HHCN that she envisioned BrightStar Care being a good partner for a retailer or payer in the long-term future.

“So, maybe [we make that move] in the next two years, or maybe it’s in seven years,” she said in February. “The opportunity to align depends on what the cycles kind of end up looking like.”

Sun will have more time to think of those big-picture ideas now that she is less involved in the day to day.

She’s still available to Ray, almost at the drop of a hat. She’s still a part of the strategic meetings. She’s still atop the organization she started over 20 years ago.

But the 100-hour work weeks – hopefully – are behind her. Convincing franchisees the value of diving into Medicare Advantage (MA) business will no longer fall directly on her shoulders.

“We need to make sure that the brand can have consistency across all of our locations, where we had gaps in consistency during COVID,” Sun said. “It made it harder for us to support our franchisees, and then, in turn, to support consumers in the marketplace. A lot of the undertaking we took on in 2021 and 2022 was to bring a lot more of that consistency to the brand. It’s about how we bring franchisees along on that journey in a way they understand.”

The future, for BrightStar Care franchisees, could include more technology and even more service lines.

The company is already heavily involved in the hospital-at-home model, namely through a partnership with the hospital-at-home enabler Medically Home. Ray mentioned transportation services as another potential service line. MA could continue to be a focus point moving forward, as could further AI integration.

Sun believes that Ray may be in a better position than even her to guide BrightStar Care into its next chapter, not just because of the franchisee experience, but because of his ability to communicate the reasons behind necessary changes.

“I want to make sure that I’m really helping them see the future and see where we’re going,” Ray said. “And then, understand how they themselves can restructure, how they can think differently and how they can acquire the skill sets to be able to take advantage of that.”

The post Why BrightStar Care Founder Shelly Sun Is Tapping A New CEO To Lead Her Business appeared first on Home Health Care News.

Workings of working memory detailed

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:11:15 +0000

Investigators have discovered how brain cells responsible for working memory--the type required to remember a phone number long enough to dial it--coordinate intentional focus and short-term storage of information.

Genetic variant identified that shaped the human skull base

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:10:55 +0000

Researchers have identified a variant in the gene TBX1 as key in the development of the unique morphology at the base of the skull. TBX1 is present at higher levels in humans than in closely related hominins. Low TBX1 also occurs in certain genetic conditions causing altered skull base morphology. This study provides a greater understanding of human disease and evolution.

Adults with congenital heart disease faced higher risk of abnormal heart rhythms

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:10:27 +0000

Adults with congenital heart defects were more likely to experience an abnormal, irregular heartbeat, finds a new study.

AI speeds up drug design for Parkinson's by ten-fold

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:10:18 +0000

Researchers have used artificial intelligence techniques to massively accelerate the search for Parkinson's disease treatments. The researchers designed and used an AI-based strategy to identify compounds that block the clumping, or aggregation, of alpha-synuclein, the protein that characterises Parkinson's.

Tracking a protein's fleeting shape changes

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:10:04 +0000

Researchers have developed a powerful, new technique to generate 'movies' of changing protein structures and speeds of up to 50 frames per second.

Research explores how a father's diet could shape the health of his offspring

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:10:02 +0000

A mice study suggests a father's diet may shape the anxiety of his sons and the metabolic health of his daughters before they are even conceived.

Novel robotic training program reduces physician errors placing central lines

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:10:00 +0000

More than five million central lines are placed in patients who need prolonged drug delivery, such as those undergoing cancer treatments, in the United States every year, yet the common procedure can lead to a bevy of complications in almost a million of those cases. Researchers developed a robotic simulation training program to provide trainee physicians with more practice on the procedure. A year after deploying the program the team found that all complication types -- mechanical issues, infections and blood clots -- were significantly lower.

Researchers uncover human DNA repair by nuclear metamorphosis

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 16:04:08 +0000

Researchers have discovered a DNA repair mechanism that advances understanding of how human cells stay healthy, and which could lead to new treatments for cancer and premature aging.

Study reveals the strong impact of layer 6b neurons on cortical activity

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 13:10:01 +0000

Layer 6b, the deepest layer of the mammalian brain's cortex, has recently been the focus of numerous neuroscience studies. Despite the interesting findings gathered in recent years, the role of this deep cortical layer remains poorly understood.