PHI on Thursday lauded New York state for its efforts to advance value-based payment in home care by leveraging the role of home care workers.
Based on interviews with seven New York-based Medicaid-funded home care agencies and four training organization, PHI suggested three main considerations for policymakers in New York and other states as they move forward with value-based payment approaches:
- Home care workers are essential, because they provide the majority of paid, hands-on care to home care clients, spot changes in clients’ conditions, and identify care needs that help improve quality of care and achieve value-based payment goals.
- Investments in planning time and long-term funding are necessary to enable home care agencies and others to design, implement and evaluate strategies for achieving value-based payment goals.
- Collaboration allows stakeholders to work together to better provide quality care. For example, PHI said, close partnerships between a home care worker and the rest of the care team help to proactively address client care needs. As another example, partnerships among training experts, home care agencies and managed care plans can lead to more successful training interventions.
