On August 6, 2021 homecare technology company, Honor, announced it had acquired one of the largest non-medical homecare providers, Home Instead.
Upon learning about this surprising acquisition, my first thought was of the old idiom of the tail wagging the dog. Home Instead is a billion-dollar company with more than a thousand franchises while Honor, the Uber of private homecare, is still a bit of a high-tech startup, albeit a heavily funded one.
But as I thought about it more, it made perfect sense.
Home Instead was founded back when boomers were in their 30s and 40s. As part of the bottom of the population pyramid, there were plenty of boomers who could serve as caregivers, compared to the number of seniors to care for, so the business model of low-cost workers serving seniors at home made sense.
Fast forward to 2021, when boomers are the seniors who will be requiring much care in the next decade, and the pyramid is flipped. The only answer to this is enabling technology. This is exactly the expertise that Honor brings to the table.
The challenge, of course, will be to convince the franchisees that a significant change in business process is the only way to meet the challenges of caring for boomers while maintaining a reasonable ROI.
I imagine that Honor will also expand the offerings of Home Instead to include medical care, such as legitimate medication management, telehealth and telemedicine. Why?Because seniors in the 65+ population are hospitalized at nearly three times the rate of those in the middle-age bracket of 45-64. And more than 85% suffer from one or more chronic conditions. Addressing daily activities plus healthcare is the only way to truly support our boomers and avoid bankrupting our next generations of children and grandchildren.
If anyone has the vision and business acumen it’s Honor!
Godspeed Honor.
Written by Charlie Hillman, Founder & Chairman, GrandCare Systems
In 2005, Charlie founded GrandCare Systems alongside co-founders, Gaytha Traynor, Laura Mitchell and Nick Mitchell. For more information about GrandCare’s fully-featured telehealth, activity monitoring and social engagement technology, please visit: www.grandcare.com or contact GrandCare at sales@grandcare.com or 262-338-6147.
https://www.grandcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Honor-acquires-home-instead.jpg15001999info@lmcllc.ushttps://www.grandcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/grandcare-logo-300x138.pnginfo@lmcllc.us2021-08-31 21:50:262021-08-31 21:50:26The Flipping of the Pyramid: Honor acquires Home Instead
The use of telehealth for delivering healthcare services expanded in recent years, an innovation that owes much to the decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to cover selected telehealth services. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the expansion of telehealth services coverage helped providers reach mobility-challenged patients, who found it difficult to leave their homes to receive the healthcare services they needed. It also helped expand access, making it possible for patients to receive services from providers sometimes well outside of their geographic area.
In California, for example, the County of Lasson uses GrandCare’s HIPAA-compliant telehealth capabilities to provide therapy visits. And in Ohio, LADD, a Cincinnati-based non-profit, created a smart home for disabled men, which uses GrandCare and other ground breaking innovations in accessibility, lighting and sensory control. This home is built from the ground up to enable the residents to live safer, more independent and happier lives. According to said Brian Hart, Chief Strategy Officer at LADD, “We have been working on this for a long time and our partnership with GrandCare enables us to provide a safe, scalable and affordable service model.” Reimbursement through Medicaid for these services is possible, because Medicaid has expanded its definition of assistive technology to include support for remote supports, such as reminders and prompts for daily activities, and even video calls to receive remote support from caregivers.
With the advent of the pandemic, the importance of telehealth became even more apparent, when it allowed patients to receive services safely, even as they sheltered at home. This was especially critical for our nation’s seniors, who were at the highest risk for the most severe forms of the disease. Those in congregate living were often under quarantine, and unable to safely leave their communities for needed care. The pandemic resulted in a dramatic increase in the use of remote telehealth services.
“Before the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), only 15,000 fee-for-service beneficiaries each week received a Medicare telemedicine service. Since the beginning of the PHE, CMS has added 144 telehealth services,” according to CMS. In the 7-month time period between mid-March and mid-October of 2020, over 24.5 million people received a Medicare-covered telehealth service.
“Telehealth has long been a priority. We started paying for short virtual visits in rural areas long before the pandemic struck. But the pandemic accentuated just how transformative it could be.” – Seema Verma, CMS Administrator
In recent months, Network Health, a Wisconsin-based insurance company, started a new program for its Medicare Advantage members in Wisconsin, using GrandCare in member homes to provide virtual visits with care managers and providers, and reduce loneliness and isolation. They will continue to roll out telehealth and medication management solutions to offer a better member experience.
This year’s Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule once again expands CMS coverage for telehealth services. Although one category of new covered services is designed to be temporary, remaining on the list through the end of the declared public health emergency, others are permanent additions to the list of covered services. It’s part of a strategy, according to CMS, to “create a healthcare system that results in better accessibility, quality, affordability, empowerment, and innovation.”
“Telehealth has long been a priority,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “We started paying for short virtual visits in rural areas long before the pandemic struck. But the pandemic accentuated just how transformative it could be.”
Among the many additional to this year’s schedule is a welcome broadening of the coverage for remote monitoring services. In addition, CMS has created new codes for coverage of online assessments, making it possible for qualified non-physician health care professionals to perform these services. “Medicare beneficiaries will now be able to receive dozens of new services via telehealth, and we’ll keep exploring ways to deliver Americans access to healthcare in the setting that they and their doctor decide makes sense for them,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar.
https://www.grandcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/telehealth-services-coverage-expanded.jpg13331999info@lmcllc.ushttps://www.grandcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/grandcare-logo-300x138.pnginfo@lmcllc.us2021-05-18 14:09:562023-03-09 13:57:22Medicare and Medicaid Introduce New Expansion of Coverage for Telehealth Services
Quick–someone you care about needs help staying safe and healthy and independent. Who do you turn to? Whether that someone is elderly or has a disability, and whatever their specific needs are, the answer should probably be Gray Matters Alliance. Their expert staff has a swiss army knife of technologies to address just about every need you could have. And that, of course, includes GrandCare.
Serving elderly and disabled
Since 2013
Comprehensive home assessments
Report for education, equipment, resources
Provides GrandCare and other assistive technologies
Founded by Vicki Spraul in 2013, GMA has been providing expert services to the elderly and people with disabilities for 7 years. One of the great things they do is a total home assessment. They send an Occupational Therapist to your house to assess your medical history, cognitive capability, mobility, strength, and balance. Then they assess your entire home, inside and out. Every entrance and exit, room by room, they spot any safety hazards, and look for any modifications and equipment that you may need. All of this is delivered to you in a written report including recommendations for education, equipment, and resources to improve your safety and independence.
Now that’s what we call service!
GMA is part of the Missouri Technology First Initiative which provides assistive technology and remote supports, but they operate nationwide. They are currently an approved Medicaid Waiver Provider for the states of Missouri, Illinois and Oklahoma and more to come. As if that weren’t enough, they are also an approved Brain Injury Waiver Provider for the Department of Health and Senior Services in MO.
If you have an elderly or disabled person in your life and you feel like you need guidance, don’t go it alone. Gray Matters Alliance is your one stop shop for both expert service and great assistive technology.
The Flipping of the Pyramid: Honor acquires Home Instead
On August 6, 2021 homecare technology company, Honor, announced it had acquired one of the largest non-medical homecare providers, Home Instead.
Upon learning about this surprising acquisition, my first thought was of the old idiom of the tail wagging the dog. Home Instead is a billion-dollar company with more than a thousand franchises while Honor, the Uber of private homecare, is still a bit of a high-tech startup, albeit a heavily funded one.
But as I thought about it more, it made perfect sense.
Home Instead was founded back when boomers were in their 30s and 40s. As part of the bottom of the population pyramid, there were plenty of boomers who could serve as caregivers, compared to the number of seniors to care for, so the business model of low-cost workers serving seniors at home made sense.
Fast forward to 2021, when boomers are the seniors who will be requiring much care in the next decade, and the pyramid is flipped. The only answer to this is enabling technology. This is exactly the expertise that Honor brings to the table.
The challenge, of course, will be to convince the franchisees that a significant change in business process is the only way to meet the challenges of caring for boomers while maintaining a reasonable ROI.
I imagine that Honor will also expand the offerings of Home Instead to include medical care, such as legitimate medication management, telehealth and telemedicine. Why? Because seniors in the 65+ population are hospitalized at nearly three times the rate of those in the middle-age bracket of 45-64. And more than 85% suffer from one or more chronic conditions. Addressing daily activities plus healthcare is the only way to truly support our boomers and avoid bankrupting our next generations of children and grandchildren.
If anyone has the vision and business acumen it’s Honor!
Godspeed Honor.
Written by Charlie Hillman, Founder & Chairman, GrandCare Systems
In 2005, Charlie founded GrandCare Systems alongside co-founders, Gaytha Traynor, Laura Mitchell and Nick Mitchell. For more information about GrandCare’s fully-featured telehealth, activity monitoring and social engagement technology, please visit: www.grandcare.com or contact GrandCare at sales@grandcare.com or 262-338-6147.
Medicare and Medicaid Introduce New Expansion of Coverage for Telehealth Services
The use of telehealth for delivering healthcare services expanded in recent years, an innovation that owes much to the decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to cover selected telehealth services. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the expansion of telehealth services coverage helped providers reach mobility-challenged patients, who found it difficult to leave their homes to receive the healthcare services they needed. It also helped expand access, making it possible for patients to receive services from providers sometimes well outside of their geographic area.
In California, for example, the County of Lasson uses GrandCare’s HIPAA-compliant telehealth capabilities to provide therapy visits. And in Ohio, LADD, a Cincinnati-based non-profit, created a smart home for disabled men, which uses GrandCare and other ground breaking innovations in accessibility, lighting and sensory control. This home is built from the ground up to enable the residents to live safer, more independent and happier lives. According to said Brian Hart, Chief Strategy Officer at LADD, “We have been working on this for a long time and our partnership with GrandCare enables us to provide a safe, scalable and affordable service model.” Reimbursement through Medicaid for these services is possible, because Medicaid has expanded its definition of assistive technology to include support for remote supports, such as reminders and prompts for daily activities, and even video calls to receive remote support from caregivers.
With the advent of the pandemic, the importance of telehealth became even more apparent, when it allowed patients to receive services safely, even as they sheltered at home. This was especially critical for our nation’s seniors, who were at the highest risk for the most severe forms of the disease. Those in congregate living were often under quarantine, and unable to safely leave their communities for needed care. The pandemic resulted in a dramatic increase in the use of remote telehealth services.
“Before the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), only 15,000 fee-for-service beneficiaries each week received a Medicare telemedicine service. Since the beginning of the PHE, CMS has added 144 telehealth services,” according to CMS. In the 7-month time period between mid-March and mid-October of 2020, over 24.5 million people received a Medicare-covered telehealth service.
In recent months, Network Health, a Wisconsin-based insurance company, started a new program for its Medicare Advantage members in Wisconsin, using GrandCare in member homes to provide virtual visits with care managers and providers, and reduce loneliness and isolation. They will continue to roll out telehealth and medication management solutions to offer a better member experience.
This year’s Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule once again expands CMS coverage for telehealth services. Although one category of new covered services is designed to be temporary, remaining on the list through the end of the declared public health emergency, others are permanent additions to the list of covered services. It’s part of a strategy, according to CMS, to “create a healthcare system that results in better accessibility, quality, affordability, empowerment, and innovation.”
“Telehealth has long been a priority,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “We started paying for short virtual visits in rural areas long before the pandemic struck. But the pandemic accentuated just how transformative it could be.”
Among the many additional to this year’s schedule is a welcome broadening of the coverage for remote monitoring services. In addition, CMS has created new codes for coverage of online assessments, making it possible for qualified non-physician health care professionals to perform these services. “Medicare beneficiaries will now be able to receive dozens of new services via telehealth, and we’ll keep exploring ways to deliver Americans access to healthcare in the setting that they and their doctor decide makes sense for them,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar.
GrandCare Partner: Gray Matters Alliance
Quick–someone you care about needs help staying safe and healthy and independent. Who do you turn to? Whether that someone is elderly or has a disability, and whatever their specific needs are, the answer should probably be Gray Matters Alliance. Their expert staff has a swiss army knife of technologies to address just about every need you could have. And that, of course, includes GrandCare.
Founded by Vicki Spraul in 2013, GMA has been providing expert services to the elderly and people with disabilities for 7 years. One of the great things they do is a total home assessment. They send an Occupational Therapist to your house to assess your medical history, cognitive capability, mobility, strength, and balance. Then they assess your entire home, inside and out. Every entrance and exit, room by room, they spot any safety hazards, and look for any modifications and equipment that you may need. All of this is delivered to you in a written report including recommendations for education, equipment, and resources to improve your safety and independence.
Now that’s what we call service!
GMA is part of the Missouri Technology First Initiative which provides assistive technology and remote supports, but they operate nationwide. They are currently an approved Medicaid Waiver Provider for the states of Missouri, Illinois and Oklahoma and more to come. As if that weren’t enough, they are also an approved Brain Injury Waiver Provider for the Department of Health and Senior Services in MO.
If you have an elderly or disabled person in your life and you feel like you need guidance, don’t go it alone. Gray Matters Alliance is your one stop shop for both expert service and great assistive technology.