The United States healthcare system will change more in the next 10 years than it has in the last 100. That is the thesis of a new book written by Paul Kusserow and David W. Johnson. The high cost of care and poor outcomes are helping to drive the transformation, Kusserow said. To improve the system, there needs to be more whole-person care, and care needs to migrate out of high-cost institutions such as hospitals. Home remains a suitable setting for care because it is the most efficient place to deliver care, Kusserow said. As part of this evolution, rules need to be relaxed to better handle patients’ care needs in the home — be they behavioral health needs or social determinants of health. Small home care firms are in the best position to provide care because they understand their local communities. Kusserow recommends such businesses employ technologies that enable them to drive individual customized plans so they can compete with the likes of large companies like Amedisys. He also believes strongly in hospital-at-home and thinks it should be a permanent program. Using and paying family caregivers to care for older and disabled adults has the potential to be a new arena for home health providers, said Kusserow who is the chairman of Careforth, a company that helps to pay family caregivers through Medicaid. During this time of upheaval at the federal level, home care firms need to do a better job of telling their success stories in Washington, he said.

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Show contributors:
McKnight’s Home Care Editor Liza Berger; Paul Kusserow, Chairman, Amedisys