To overcome obstacles associated with job training, recruitment and retention problems, policymakers must make a “major workforce investment” to ensure that successful care coordination and care management can occur, according to the report “Who’s Going to Care? Analysis and Recommendations for Building New York’s Care Coordination and Care Management Workforce,” released this month by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East and the Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC).

The report examines the State of New York’s Health Home program, which manage care of Medicaid enrollees with complex and often costly chronic conditions that drive a high volume of inpatient episodes.

By analyzing the Health Homes model, researchers believe this initiative can provide insight on the steps needed to create and support a skilled care coordination and care management workforce for the health care system as a whole.

“New York’s experiment in shifting care for elderly residents from nursing homes to a largely underpaid home care workforce offers painful and expensive lessons as the larger and more complex healthcare system embarks on a similar shift,” states the report’s researchers.

To better understand provider challenges and expectations for the care coordination and care management workforce, 1199SEIU Healthcare Workers East and the Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC) surveyed New York State Health Home providers about workforce roles and jobs, including education and skills requirements, salary range and training needs.

The survey was sent to 213 Health Homes primarily in the New York City/downstate area. Community-based organizations comprised 65% of survey respondents, while community health centers represented 27% and hospitals accounted for 8%.

Key findings from the survey indicated that recruitment and retention challenges are prevalent and are driven by several factors, including insufficient salaries, high caseload and lack of appropriate skills and competencies.

A significant majority of organizations reported recruitment challenges (88%) and retention challenges (78%), while more than half reported insufficient salaries as a barrier to recruitment and retention.

On average, salaries reported by the organization that were surveyed—the majority of which were community-based—are 27% to 50% lower than the salaries for those with similar titles operating in the hospital workforce.

Responses also revealed that ongoing training and supervision are needed for staff that provide care coordination and care management, as less than 60% of organizations responding said they provide training in patient-centered care and chronic care management.

Furthermore, less than half of organizations said they offer training in health coaching, working in a team, housing placement, stress management or running and reading reports—all skills that organizations considered crucial to care coordination and care management roles.

1199SEIU, whose mission is to achieve quality care and good jobs for all, is the largest health care union in New York, representing over 300,000 members throughout the state. Its members are “deeply committed” to transforming the health care system to better serve communities, said George Gresham, president of 1199SEIU.

“Key to achieving this goal is ensuring that high-quality care coordination services are available to everyone who needs them, which will require thousands of new care managers and other workers,” Gresham said in a written statement. “Policymakers must ensure that the structure is in place to train, recruit and retain this new workforce.”

Based on an analysis of survey results and additional research, 1199SEIU and PCDC developed several recommendations for policymakers and health care organizations.

These include collecting data about the care coordination and care management workforce; requiring all payers to support coordination and care management; ensuring recruitment and retention through sufficient wages and benefits for staff; as well as provide ongoing support for the development of the care coordination and care management workforce.

The workforce lessons learned through Health Homes, and other programs involving high levels of care management, researchers say, will be particularly relevant as New York launches its five-year Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment Program (DSRIP), which has a goal of reducing avoidable hospitalizations by 25% by building community-based health care capacity.

Through DSRIP, over $400 million will be available for workforce development, including training and retaining the health care labor force.

This presents a “remarkable opportunity” for New York State to minimize disruption for the existing healthcare workforce as it transitions to new settings and to provide meaningful careers for low wage, underemployed or unemployed individuals in low income communities, all while improving the quality of care for the highest need patients, according to the report’s researchers.

“This report demonstrates that providers need adequate funding to invest in our care coordination workforce, including compensation, supervision and training, in order for these services to play a transformative role in New York State’s health care system,” said Charles King, president and CEO of Housing Works, which participates in the Health Home initiatives.

Written by Jason Oliva

The post Major Workforce Overhaul Needed for Home Health Care Coordination appeared first on Home Health Care News.

The announcement came Thursday, following months of negotiations between the union representing home care workers—1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East—and the administration of recently elected Gov. Charlie Baker (R). Baker formerly was the CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a not-for-profit health services company.

“As the senior population grows, the demand for home care services is increasing,” said 1199SEIU Executive Vice President Veronica Turner, in a statement announcing the agreement. “By helping to ensure a living wage for these vital caregivers, Governor Baker is taking a critical step with us toward reducing workforce turnover and ensuring that Massachusetts families can access the quality home care they need for their loved ones.”

The negotiations with the Baker administration were spurred in part by rallies and other actions that Bay State union members undertook as part of a national “Fight for $15” movement. This is a campaign that also includes fast-food employees and other unionized workers, and has involved protests, strikes and other actions that participants say are needed to ensure a living wage.

In February, home care workers launched a “blitz” of town hall meetings to draw attention to their cause. They have garnered high-profile support from the likes of Hillary Clinton and U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez.

Cities such as Seattle and Chicago have been on the leading edge of enacting $15 minimum wages for various kinds of workers involved in the Fight for $15. But the state-wide Massachusetts agreement marks a watershed moment for home care workers.

The agreement extends a current collective bargaining agreement and guarantees all personal care attendants statewide will receive the $15 minimum wage as of July 1, 2018. An immediate $0.30 raise goes into effect July 1, 2015, but part of that will be paid retroactively once the contract is ratified, according to 1199SEIU. PCAs will vote by mail ballot to ratify the contract extension and the terms of the wage increase.

There are more than 50,000 home care workers in Massachusetts, including those working for private agencies, according to The Boston Globe.

“The administration is grateful to SEIU 1199 members and leadership for their good faith negotiations, and pleased that PCAs will be appropriately compensated for the highly specialized care they provide,” Jim Conroy, senior adviser to the governor, said in a statement to the newspaper.

Union members had planned to picket the State House on June 30, but now will convene there to celebrate.

PCA Rosario Cabrera, 31, told the Globe that her family struggles to make ends meet even with her husband’s income as a machine operator. The increased wages will make a big difference, she said.

“I’m proud of what I do because I’m helping another human being life their life,” she told the Globe. “But it’s not fair if I can’t live my life.”

Some employers warn that a $15 minimum wage is untenable and might cause them to lay off workers. But some home health agency owners say that payment levels have to be competitive in order to attract top caregivers and remain competitive in a fast-growing sector. Jim Borngesser, owner of Jacksonville, Florida-based Family Focused Home Health Care, is among them.

“I think agencies will have to realize you have to pay more to get what you want,” Borngesser told HHCN in March.

Written by Tim Mullaney

The post Home Care Workers Win $15 Minimum Wage in Massachusetts appeared first on Home Health Care News.

Alliance Home Health Care, Berhan Home Health Care, Immaculate Health Care Services and J.D. Nursing and Management were the agencies named in the class action suit filed Tuesday. The previously filed suits named Health Management Inc., Nursing Enterprises, Vizion One Inc., Capitol View, Human Touch, T&N Nursing Care and VMT Home Health.

The charges in all the cases are similar, alleging that for as long as three years, the providers withheld pay or overtime pay, or paid at rates that did not reach the living wage threshold, and did not offer sick days. The class actions together could result in workers receiving more than $150 million in back pay, according to the union 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.

The latest lawsuit comes on the heels of a favorable ruling for the home care workers. Last week, D.C. Superior Court Judge Michael O’Keefe affirmed a ruling in the first of the three cases, saying that since April 2011, D.C. home health agencies have been required to at a minimum pay the District’s living wage.

The agencies charged in the latest suit all receive Medicaid funds. They should not be receiving these government dollars if they cheating workers out of pay, plaintiffs’ attorney Greg McGillivary, of Woodley & McGillivary LLP, said in a statement issued Tuesday.homeheatlh

“Judging by the sheer number of recent lawsuits against these agencies, the problem of wage theft and the number of people affected may be even larger than expected,” McGillivary also stated.

The controversy around home care workers’ wages is not confined to the District of Columbia. Around the country, home care workers have been engaged in a concerted effort to boost wages. Former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton—on the campaign trail for the presidential contest in 2016—is one of the most recent public figures to come out in support of this effort. The Department of Labor also has taken steps to extend certain minimum wage protections to home care workers, but this has been halted at least temporarily by the courts.

Written by Tim Mullaney

The post D.C. Home Care Agencies Hit with Third Wage Theft Lawsuit appeared first on Home Health Care News.