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Elizabeth A. Poirier: Executive Director, Home Health Care of Greater Newburyport, Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA
John W. Moran: Chief Operating Officer, Changing Healthcare, Inc
Introduction
Home Health Care is experiencing many changes that have or will impact on how we conduct our daily operations. Home Health Care is in a time of flux as it prepares for prospective payment but still operates in a cost-based system of reimbursement. This is a double edged sword. Cutting costs is not rewarded in the current certified business, yet we must position ourselves for the future. The future will be one in which cost efficiencies and volume will be the keys to survival.
Two of the major forces facing the home health care industry today are regulatory changes, such as OASIS, and prospective reimbursements. Whatever form of prospective reimbursements take place will have a major impact on how efficiently and cost effectively we run our operations. Both of these forces are external and we must respond internally. We must design for change today to be able to survive in the future.
Background
Home Health Care of Greater Newburyport is a certified non-profit organization that has provided the community and surrounding areas with home health services and public health clinics for more than 90 years.
The origins of Home Health Care Greater Newburyport stems from 1906 with the establishment of the District Nursing Service in Newburyport. For several years the work of the agency was carried out by the senior nursing students at the Anna Jaques Hospital School of Nursing. Under the name ofThe Health Center, the first centralized community health organization was officially opened in 1920. In 1988, the name of the organization was changed to Home Health Care of Greater Newburyport and in October 1995, the agency became a division of Anna Jaques Hospital.
Today the agency provides over 100,000 home visits and employs over 200 nurses, therapists, home health aides, and managers.
Why redesign?
Why do we need to redesign is a common question being asked by Home Health Care professionals today. We need to redesign because of some very powerful externaldriving forces that are impacting on our industry. These driving forces are:
- Economic forces, especially prospective payment and managed care, forcing changes in the delivery system....