The Future Leaders Awards program is brought to you in partnership with Homecare Homebase. The program is designed to recognize up-and-coming industry members who are shaping the next decade of home health, hospice care, senior housing, skilled nursing and behavioral health. To see this year’s Future Leaders, visit https://futureleaders.agingmedia.com/.
Katie Davis, senior vice president of clinical operations at Vesta Healthcare, has been named a 2023 Future Leader by Home Health Care News.
To become a Future Leader, an individual is nominated by their peers. The candidate must be a high-performing employee who is 40-years-old or younger, a passionate worker who knows how to put vision into action, and an advocate for seniors, and the committed professionals who ensure their well-being.
Davis sat down with HHCN to talk about moving care upstream via new home-based care models as well as making the U.S. health care system easier for patients and caregivers to navigate. During the conversation, Davis also touched on the emerging role of virtual services and artificial intelligence in home-based care.
HHCN: What drew you to this industry?
Davis: I worked in emergency medicine early in my career and saw patients that should have never needed to come into the emergency department but had to due to circumstances often out of their control.
I also conversely saw patients that really did need to come into the emergency department but arrived too late.
I was presented with an opportunity to move upstream to help solve some of this in the post-acute space, and I realized there was even more to be done as care was moving into the home. I’ve always loved taking on challenging problems to solve, and I felt contributing to new models of care within home care would drive high value for patients and caregivers, including my family.
What’s your biggest lesson learned since starting to work in this industry?
One of my biggest lessons is really a confirmation of what many of us already know; health care is incredibly confusing to navigate, especially for those that are medically complex and/or rely on caregivers for support.
There is not enough support for caregivers or a consistent way for all of the fragmented pieces of health care to come together in service of the patient. That’s what we’ve set out to change at Vesta Healthcare.
If you could change one thing with an eye toward the future of home-based care, what would it be?
If I could change one thing, it would be to continue to enhance support systems and resources for patients and caregivers when navigating health care. Too many organizations are continuing with business as usual, and adding to the stress and complexity of care delivery for patients and caregivers.
We all need to take a minute to pause on a regular basis and re-evaluate our processes, workflows and support provided to our patients and caregivers. If we are not providing high-quality and connected care for patients and caregivers, we need to ask why – and rapidly adjust.
What do you foresee as being different about the home-based care space looking ahead to 2024?
Looking ahead, I anticipate continued growth in virtual services and AI use in the home care industry. Many home care groups do not have the systems, processes or bandwidth to support the use of new technologies – and neither do PCPs. That is why groups like Vesta Healthcare’s affiliated medical groups are specializing in this area and providing support through our network of home care services.
New technologies will enable more personalized and convenient care, allowing health care professionals to monitor patients remotely and provide timely interventions. Integration of AI-driven platforms and predictive analytics will lead to better decision-making, resource allocation and overall improved patient outcomes.
In a word, how would you describe the future of home-based care?
Integrated.
What quality must all Future Leaders possess?
Grit. Changing health care is not easy work. There will always be challenges in doing this very important work. We need folks with the courage, conscientiousness, perseverance, resilience and passion to make a difference.
To learn more about the Future Leaders program, visit https://futureleaders.agingmedia.com/.
