The National State of the Home Care Industry

The National State of the Home Care Industry is a major national study to determine the present technology, clinical, and operational state of the home care industry and future strategies that leaders are considering as we move into the new realities of home care and health care.

The National State of the Home Care Industry Study is expected to be the largest representative sample study in the history of home care. Over 1,000 agency directors are expected to be interviewed as part of the study.

The Study will began in early August and concluded the end of September. Findings were unveiled at the NAHC Conference in Los Angeles in October with a formal report of the findings being shared with the field and vendors in November.

Information

What are the goals of The National State of the Home Care Industry?
There are three very explicit goals:

1. To determine the present technology, clinical, and operational state of the home care industry and the future strategies that leaders are considering in these areas.
2. To explore relationships and strategies being used by agencies in their interactions with hospitals and health systems. Of particular interest is learning the differences in strategies being used by hospital-based agencies versus hospital affiliated versus freestanding. The study will also explore how various hospitals or systems relate (manage, allocate cost, etc.) to agencies who may be fully or partially owned by them.
3. To provide all of the findings to the field in order to help agency leaders better understand and better plan for their future.

Who is managing the overall study?
Fazzi Associates. Fazzi Associates has been involved managing most of the major home care national studies including the 3M National OASIS Integrity Project, the Briggs National Hospital Reduction/Quality Improvement Project and two recent national studies by Phillips, the Phillips National Study on the Future of Technology and Telehealth in Home Care and the Phillips National Chronic Disease/Telehealth Project.

When will the study take place?
The focus and questions of the study were developed in July with the help of a National Steering Committee and by analyzing input from the National State of the Home Care Industry Open Forum Web Survey. The survey will take place in August and September with the results first presented at the NAHC Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.

How will you survey agency directors?
Agency directors will actually be interviewed through an in-depth phone survey.

How many agency directors do you intend to survey?
This will be the largest representative sample study in the history of home care. We expect to do a phone survey with more than 1,000 agency directors.

What is The National State of the Home Care Industry Open Forum Web Survey?
This is a unique web survey where anyone in the field interested in suggesting questions or a focus for questions can have input using the Internet. All of the suggestions will be reviewed by the National Steering Committee as part of their process of developing the national survey that will take place in August and September.

Who is on the National Steering Committee?
There are representatives of every region of the country. See full list of National Steering Committee.

How will this information help a home care agency?
Home care leaders are constantly trying to learn what the standards are in the history in an array of areas, i.e. use of technology, telehealth, and clinical products. They are also interested in the strategies being used by agencies with hospital and health systems, particularly in relationship to referrals. And for hospital-based and hospital affiliated agencies, there is a strong interest in having a better understanding of how hospitals and systems relate to the agencies they own or partially own, i.e. how they are managed, who the home care director reports to, how much and what cost do the systems allocate to the agency. These and other issues will be explored in the study in this representative sample, industry segmental study.

What does “representative sample” mean and why is it so important?
Representative sample means that we will statistically pay close attention to making sure we have the right number of agencies for each type of home care sector (segment) so that we make fairly accurate assessments of what similar types of agencies in the same sector do in terms of use of technology, telehealth, and clinical tools as well as the practices and strategies they use with hospitals and health systems.

What statistically representative segments do you plan on having?
We expect to have statistically representative segments of the following:

• Affiliation: Hospital-based versus Hospital Affiliated versus Freestanding.
• Budget Size: <$1M, $1M to $3M, $3M to $6M, $6M to $10M, and >$10M.
• Other possible segments: Urban versus Rural, For-Profit versus Not-for-Profit.

How will this information be shared?
Once the study is completed, analyzed, and reports developed, it will be formally presented for the first time at the NAHC Annual Meeting in Los Angeles in October 2009. Executive Reports of key findings will then be developed and distributed by NAHC and state home care associations to agencies throughout the country. Other venues that will be used to distribute the survey include having it located on NAHC and Fazzi websites as well other vehicles that will be identified during the project.

Why are NAHC and the Hospital Home Care Association of America (a NAHC affiliate) co-sponsoring the study?
NAHC is the industry’s leading home care and hospice association. It is deeply concerned and committed to doing whatever it can to provide home care and hospice agencies with information that they can use to improve their operations. This study is yet another major commitment it is making to providing agencies with timely and valuable information. The goal of the Hospital Home Care Association of America (HHCAA) is to meet the unique needs of hospital-based and hospital affiliated home care agencies by seeking to influence and communicate the issues, challenges, and opportunities that arise from changes in the hospital environment. HHCAA's objectives will reflect the mission of NAHC and serve the best interests of all home care and hospice providers.

What are the timelines in the Study?
We envision The National State of the Home Care Industry Study will take six months to complete. Our tentative timeline is as follows:

July: The National Steering Committee is named and individual states that have a member on the National Steering Commmittee are informed.
July: The focus and questions of the study are developed with the help of the National Steering Committee and by analyzing input from the National State of the Home Care Industry Open Forum Web Survey.
July: Draft survey is developed, field tested, and completed in four areas of the country.
August: Final survey is developed and survey calls are made.
September: Survey is completed and analysis of the findings begins. Analysis of the findings is completed.
October: Presentations of findings presented at NAHC.

For More Information

For more information, please contact the Project Manager, Lynn Harlow at lharlow@fazzi.com.

Steering Commitee

Region I
Donna DeBlois, Kno Wa Lin Home Care, ME
Chris Attaya, Partners Home Care, MA
Paula Shiner, Southcoast Home Care, MA

Region II
Mary Ann Christopher, VNA Central Jersey, NJ

Region III
Julie Trocchio, The Catholic Health Association, DC
Ray Darcey, Sentara Home Healthcare, VA

Region IV
Kathleen Gilmartin, Interim Healthcare, FL
Tony Zizzamia, Jr., Liberty Healthcare, NC

Region V
Cathy Follmer, Catholic Healthcare Partners, OH
Denise Keefe, Advocate Home Health Services, IL
Grace McCauley, Trinity Home Health Services, MI
Nadine Paitich, Healtheast, MN

Region VI
Beth Hennessey, Baptist Health Home Health Network, AR
April Anthony, Encompass Home Health, TX

Region VII
Ruth Castellano, BJC Home Care Services, MO
Judith A. Bellome, Douglas County VNA, KS

Region VIII
Marcia Taylor, Rapid City Regional Hospital, SD

Region IX
Mary Lou Carraher, Scripps Home Health Services, CA
Marcia Reissig, Sutter VNA & Hospice, CA

Region X
Cheryl Lovell, Avamere Health Services, OR
Sheila Masteller, Providence VNA Home Health, WA