UO’s Labor Education and Research Center was one of four recipients of the Archie Green Fellowship in Occupational Folklore, a national fellowship  from the library’s American Folklife Center that funds innovative research.

The award will fund “Taking Care: Documenting the Occupational Culture of Home Care Workers,” a project that surveys home health workers in Oregon and documents the occupational culture of those who are primary caregivers for seniors.

Bob Bussel, a history professor and director of the University of Oregon’s Labor Education and Research Center, will lead the research team, the university announced. Other team members include Helen Moss, a senior instructor at the Center; Nathan Moore, who recently received his master’s degree in folklore from UO; and Ivan LaFollette, the team videographer. 

The fellowship provides nearly $34,000 for UO to interview 35 home care workers throughout the next year. The interviews will be digitally archived at the Library of Congress and will be accessible to other researchers. 

“This is going to have a life beyond this work,” Bussel said in a statement. 

Interviews will be conducted with support from the Service Employees International Union Local 503, says the university. The union chapter represents more than 11,000 home care workers in Oregon. 

The goal of the interviews is to gain insights into the occupational culture of home care workers and expand public knowledge of a job that is beginning to receive greater scholarly and social attention, according to Bussel. 

Written by Alyssa Gerace

The post Library of Congress to Fund Home Health Worker Study appeared first on Home Health Care News.

The criteria focus on interoperability, privacy and security, and modularity aimed at improving providers’ access to necessary EHR functionality, said Larry Wolf, Co-Chair of the Certification and Adoption Workgroup for the Health IT Policy Committee in a blog post on HealthIT Buzz.

“The Health Information Technology Policy Committee (HITPC) has been asked by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to explore the health information technology (health IT) needs of the long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) and behavioral health (BH) settings,” Wolf wrote. “In most cases, providers in these settings are not eligible to receive funding from the Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive (Meaningful Use) Programs.”

EHR adoption across home health and long-term care providers in the past several years has been plagued by different systems that couldn’t exchange information or communicate with each other. 

In 2007, 43% of home health agencies and hospices adopted uncertified EHRs, Wolf said. Three years previously, 43% of nursing homes reported adopting EHRs, and systems “varied wildly and were generally not interoperable.” In the behavioral health category, community mental health centers had an EHR adoption rate of 21%.

“Though these settings have different needs, there are many characteristics that are shared by LTPAC and BH providers,” said Wolf. “For both settings, stakeholders have shared their frustration regarding the lack of reliable, interoperable systems.”

The Certification and Adoption Workgroup of the Health Information Technology Policy Committee is seeking public comment on the proposed certification criteria for long-term and post-acute care and behavioral health settings that are under consideration. 

Comment submissions are due by the end of the day on May 22, 2014.

Access the public comment template, view the EHR certification criteria, or read more at the Buzz blog. 

Written by Alyssa Gerace

The post Government Explores Certification for Long-Term Care EHR Systems appeared first on Home Health Care News.

“We are very excited to welcome XL Hospice to our family of companies,” said Bob Thomas, PT, President of Signature Hospice, Home Health and Home Care, in a statement. “The philosophy and approach to senior care services of XL Hospice specialized clinical teams and volunteers is right in line with our mission to enhance the life of every person we serve.” 

Signature’s purchase of XL Hospice was in “direct response” to the nation’s increasing demand for senior care services generated by the aging population, the company says. Post-acquisition, the improved market reach and combined expertise and resources of the two health care companies is expected to also increase their abilities to reduce unnecessary emergency room visits and hospital readmissions. 

“Signature has a proven track record of putting the patient at the center of the decisions they make,” said Dwight Olson, LCSW, XL Hospice’s administration. “XL Hospice is enthusiastic to align our services with Signature’s mission as we continue to work toward reducing hospital re-admissions, focus on patient comfort and care, and increase patient satisfaction.”

With the acquisition, Signature Hospice, Home Health, and Home Care has gained 66 hospice employees to its existing 650-strong staff of associates and hundreds of volunteers. The company’s marketplace has also expanded from an existing footprint in Oregon and Washington to include Idaho and Nevada. 

Written by Alyssa Gerace

The post Signature Expands Through Acquisition of XL Hospice appeared first on Home Health Care News.

Senate Bill 2773 has already passed both chambers of the General Assembly with unanimous approval and now awaits Governor Pat Quinn’s signature, urged on by AARP.

State Senator Jacqueline Collins and Representative Ken Dunkin sponsored SB 2773, which establishes a task force whose sole purpose is to identify and address disparities across the spectrum of services that older adults rely on when receiving care at home or in a facility. 

“AARP applauds the bill sponsors and the entire General Assembly for taking a positive step toward addressing the racial, ethnic and class disparities that exist in Illinois’ long term care system,” said David Vinkler, Associate State Director with AARP Illinois, in a statement. “It is important that people are able to live independently as they age and that we look at quality of care issues with a focus towards addressing disparities where they exist.”

The legislation intends to seek out and fix disparities in the availability of critical care serves to older adults and was spearheaded by AARP’s advocacy work against what it says is “Illinois’ well-documented history” of racial and ethnic disparities in quality services.

The Long Term Care Services and Supports Disparities Task Force will be responsibly for documenting the number and type of long-term care providers in Illinois and how many clients they serve, and comparing multi-year data to identify trends in the delivery of long-term care for various racial and ethnic groups. The task force will then provide recommendations to address where they see disparities in the use and quality of care. 

For the purposes of the task force, long-term care services encompass housekeeping, transportation, bill paying, meals, personal care, in-home care provided by a nurse or paid health care professional, and other social or medical care services received outside the home.

“The vast majority of older people would like to live with independence in their homes and communities with the care they want and need for as long as they are able,” said Vinkler. “Taking the time to study this issue will help to ensure that people can live in their homes and communities for as long as possible with adequate resources and supports.”

The post Illinois Long-Term Care Bill Broadens Access to In-Home Services appeared first on Home Health Care News.

The report, Senior Care Franchises, explores the fast-growing, multi-billion dollar home care industry and assesses franchise investment opportunities. Franchise Business Review first looked at the senior home care industry in 2010 when it was still emerging as a “promising” franchise sector, and it has “only grown” in popularity and stability since then, the report says.

“Senior care is a natural fit for franchising. It’s a business that’s highly regulated and systems- oriented, while, at the same time, highly personal,” said Franchise Business Review.

The report encompasses more than 30 senior care franchise companies, including interviews with CEOs at some of the top franchise brands, along with a survey of more than 1,300 franchisees.

In the survey, franchisees were asked to rank their franchise systems in several areas: financial opportunity, training and support, leadership, operations and product development, core values, general satisfaction, and the franchisee community.

Additionally, respondents provided information about their market area, demographics, business lifestyle, overall enjoyment running their franchise, and role in the franchisee community. 

Home Instead Senior Care, Visiting Angels, Homewatch CareGivers, Synergy HomeCare, Right at Home, BrightStar, FirstLight HomeCare, and Interim HealthCare are among the top senior care companies Franchise Business Reviews identify through the survey data. 

“Senior care is a highly competitive industry, which means franchisors need to work twice as hard to make their franchise brands stand out to prospective franchisees,” said Franchise Business Review president Michelle Rowan. “We see some of the best practices in franchise operations and leadership demonstrated in our top senior care companies.”

Home care franchise businesses rated their 2014 satisfaction higher than the benchmark in every category of their annual survey. Overall satisfaction in the senior care space was five points higher than Franchise Business Review’s benchmark.

However, when it comes to work-life balance, senior care franchisees ranked lower than franchises in other sectors, as they tend to work more hours—including nights and weekends—compared to other business sectors.

Access the full Senior Care Franchises 2014 report.

Written by Alyssa Gerace

The post New Report: Senior Care Franchise Sector Continues to Stand Out appeared first on Home Health Care News.

The average annual growth in per-person personal health care spending for seniors was 4.1% during that eight-year time frame—the lowest among any other age group studied, according to a report from the CMS Office of the Actuary released this week and published in the journal Health Affairs. Slower spending growth for skilled nursing facilities and continuing care retirement communities contributed to this trend.

“Personal health care costs” consist of all the medical goods and services used to treat or prevent certain diseases and conditions in a specific person. This includes health spending delivered through hospitals, physician and clinical services, retail prescription drugs, and the programs and payers for that care, such as private health insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid. 

Spending growth among the age groups varied, especially during the Great Recession, according to the report’s authors. For example, the birth rate declined 3.7%, correlating to a slowed growth in spending for females aged 19-44 with fewer expenditures on maternity care.

For seniors, the recession’s impact wasn’t as clear, notes the report. Between 2008 and 2010, per capita spending growth for the elderly averaged 2.4% a year, lower than growth for the other age groups. 

“Slower Medicare spending and continued slow growth in spending for nursing care facilities and continuing care retirement communities contributed to the low rate of growth,” the report suggests. “Also, private health insurance spending per enrollee for those ages sixty-five and older grew slowly, at 3.0 percent annually over the period—the slowest growth rate of private health insurance among the major age groups. Out-of pocket spending per person for the elderly declined 0.4 percent annually over this period.”

Access the full report at Health Affairs.

Written by Alyssa Gerace 

The post Senior Care Costs Grew at Slowest Rate of All Age Groups: CMS appeared first on Home Health Care News.

Senator John Hoeven (R-N.D.) launched the effort in response to a recent announcement that competitive bidding will be expanded nationwide by 2016 beyond the 100 areas around the country in which the program was launched. 

The sign-on letter is addressed to CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner.

“I  am deeply concerned about how the program impacts the senior citizens and people with disabilities in my community,” reads a portion of the letter Hoeven is encouraging people to sign. “I fear that competitive bidding will reduce the number of quality medical equipment providers in the country, therefore reduce beneficiary access to home medical equipment.”

Tavenner is asked to stop any further action of expanding the bidding program until the findings of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General’s investigations of the program have been presented to Congress, and elected officials have had “adequate” time to review the OIG’s conclusions. 

Many in the home medical equipment industry are opposed to an expansion of the program. 

“Please take action to stop the expansion of competitive bidding,” the letter urges senators.

May 15 is the last day to sign the letter.

Written by Alyssa Gerace 

The post Senator Launches Effort to Postpone Competitive Bidding Expansion appeared first on Home Health Care News.

Consolidated revenues for the first quarter increased 2% to $1.3 billion compared to last year. Income from continuing operations grew to $16.8 million or $0.31 per diluted share, compared to $10.4 million or $0.20 per diluted share in 2013’s first quarter.

Kindred’s investment in its Care Management division and Kindred at Home led to revenue growth of 70% and operating income growth of 30% compared to 2013, and has established a “platform for future growth.” 

“Our Care Management division continues to make operating improvements in our home health and hospice operations as we assimilate numerous acquisitions and execute on a more standardized operating model,” said Kindred CEO Paul Diaz. “Our recent acquisitions of Senior Home Care and Kindred Home Based Primary Care (formerly Western Reserve Senior Care) have performed well and strengthen our commitment to further expand our Care Management division. We have made significant improvements in our management, processes and technology and hope to apply those tools across a larger platform over time.”

Kindred added a net total of 45 new skilled nursing rehab sites during the first quarter and its divestiture of 59 nursing centers leased from Ventas is on schedule. As of May 1, 26 nursing facilities had been transferred and all but one facility is scheduled to be transferred by the end of the third quarter.

“Strong” cost controls helped Kindred’s hospital division to perform well and mitigate the impact of a 2% decline in net revenues from volume softness, sequestration, and commercial rate pressures, the company reported. 

The RehabCare division’s operating income increased 1% with operating margins improving to 11.4%, up three basis points from last year’s first quarter despite regulatory headwinds that went into effect last April.

Kindred’s nursing center division reported a 13% increase in operating income and in March marked its first profitable month of operation in two years. 

“Our RehabCare division continues to make great progress, as evidenced by our operating income increase and margin improvement, notwithstanding Medicare reimbursement reductions,” said Diaz. “The efforts we have made to reshape our nursing center division are continuing to pay off as we saw a significant improvement in operating margins in the first quarter. We are developing three additional transitional care centers in Indianapolis, Phoenix and Las Vegas, which will add to the momentum in this division.”

Access Kindred’s first quarter 2014 earnings report. 

 Written by Alyssa Gerace

The post Kindred Reports Q1 Revenue Bump Amid Home Health Buys appeared first on Home Health Care News.

California Mission Inn is a 143-unit assisted living community in Rosemead, Calif. Mission Care Center is a 59-bed skilled nursing facility that has been operated by an Ensign subsidiary as a leased facility since 2005.

“We are committed to continuing the great work we’ve done at Mission Care Center and are confident that, with the addition of California Mission Inn, this senior care campus will be positioned to provide a full-service offering to address the specific needs and preferences of each resident,” said Christopher Christensen, Ensign’s President and Chief Executive Officer, in a statement. 

The transaction marks Ensign’s third real estate acquisition since announcing plans to separate most of the company’s real estate from its operating business. 

“We hope that these recent acquisitions will add clarity to Ensign’s strategy following the spin-off, which is to continue to acquire and retain the real estate assets for both well-performing and struggling skilled nursing facilities across the United States,” he said.

Ensign’s senior housing subsidiary Bridgestone expects operations in California Mission Inn, which had an occupancy rate of approximately 72% at acquisition, to be mildly accretive to earnings in 2014.

Ensign made the purchases with cash and will retain ownership of the real estate acquired in this transaction and the other acquisitions it has completed or plans to complete in 2014.

Written by Alyssa Gerace

The post Ensign Acquires 2 California Senior Care Communities appeared first on Home Health Care News.

Net income attributable to Gentiva shareholders rose to $0.3 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $207.2 million or ($6.73) per diluted share in the first quarter of 2013. That loss was attributed to non-cash impairment charges of $224.3 million based on an interim impairment test of Gentiva’s goodwill and other long-lived assets performed during the quarter.

Total net revenues also increased in the quarter, up 17% to $487.5 million. Net revenues included home health episodic revenues of $224.4 million, up 8% from the same period in 2013. Gentiva acquired Harden in October 2013, and this year’s first quarter earnings included Harden’s financial results. 

Hospice revenues decreased 3% to $174.4 million, and Gentiva recorded $57.1 million of community care revenue. 

Access Gentiva’s first quarter 2014 earnings report.  

Written by Alyssa Gerace

The post Gentiva Reports Q1 Profits Boosted by Harden Healthcare Acquisition appeared first on Home Health Care News.