Multiple states are taking initiative to address home-based care staffing woes, addressing a long-time need that exists across the country.
After a competitive bidding process, the Carmel, Indiana-based Syra Health Corp. (Nasdaq: SYRA) has been granted a $5.8 million contract to train home health care professionals providing care to residents at home or in community-based facilities. These facilities are under the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) oversight.
Syra is a health care technology company focused on providing affordable access to care in challenging areas such as behavioral, mental, digital and population health.
“Syra Health is developing the curriculum for this contract aligned with the Indiana FSSA-defined core competencies and under FSSA’s vision of ensuring all home and community support professionals serving any population under a home and community-based settings waiver have the same competencies and training,” Christine Drury, communications and marketing director at Syra Health, told Home Health Care News.
The curriculum has module-specific learning objectives and interactive activities covering foundational fundamentals, medication administration and micro-credentials.
“Syra will seamlessly integrate health equity and cultural competency principles to ensure effective and comprehensive learning by home and community support professionals of all backgrounds,” she said.
A training registry will track the usage of the training materials. It will be integrated into the learning management system, providing a snapshot of workforce capacity and competency at any given moment.
Effective monitoring and reporting also will be critical aspects of this project. Syra Health has committed to providing regular comprehensive reports to the FSSA, and will modify the process to meet evolving monitoring or reporting needs.
Directing funds to meet a minimum pay range
In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers announced that he is directing the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) to allocate $258 million in funding, which was already designated for home- and community-based services (HCBS), to establish and finance a minimum fee schedule.
This schedule will result in higher wages for caregivers who serve older adults and individuals with disabilities.
With this action, Wisconsin will join 20 other states that have a minimum fee schedule for HCBS providers, including Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Michigan.
The minimum fee schedule will set the lowest amounts that managed care organizations (MCOs) must pay providers for specific adult long-term care services. The affected Medicaid programs include Family Care, Family Care Partnership, and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), according to the Department of Health Services (DHS). DHS predicts that this funding and the establishment of the minimum fee schedule will result in a 15% rate increase for most home care services.
“Our health care workers have faced significant challenges these past few years, and these investments will go a long way toward helping make sure workers receive the support and fair compensation they deserve,” Gov. Evers said in a statement. “While this is an important step in helping us be able to recruit, train and retain talented folks in our health care workforce, it’s going to be critical for these investments to continue in our next biennial budget so we can address chronic challenges and continue building a strong, stable health care industry for the future.”
The minimum rates will take effect on October 1, and the DHS will ensure that MCOs pay providers at or above these minimums. Organizations failing to do so will face contractual penalties.
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