Transcending Home Care

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Hospice News editor Jim Parker has been covering the hospice and palliative care community with depth and nuance since the outlet was founded in 2019. The industry has seen enormous change over that time – from M&A, to program integrity, to growth in the space – and Hospice News has been an informative source for leaders across the country. In this episode of Transcending Home Care, Tony Kudner sat down with Jim Parker at the NHPCO (now National Alliance for Care at Home) annual leadership conference to hear how he came to be the editor at Hospice News, and discuss some of their most-covered stories as well as what the future might hold for hospice.

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In this episode, Tony sits down with Courtney Penn to talk through Transcend’s approach to change management and what successful changes have in common. The conversation touches on key milestones, planning for change and communicating it well, and developing the critical feedback loops needed to gauge the success of the change. Tony and Courtney also discuss several client case studies and examples from their own experiences from working at home-based care provider agencies.

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When we talk about the shift to value-based care, we talk a lot about concepts like delegated risk, upside and downside bonuses and incentives, and of course, data. On the quality side, we default to using standard patient satisfaction scores and tools as benchmarks for where the conversation starts and ends.

In this episode, we take a deeper dive into what quality and a relationship with a patient or consumer might mean. How can we move beyond one CAHPS survey to think about a more holistic experience instead of just “teaching to the test”? How can we remove barriers or burdens for our staff to give them more time to develop deep and meaningful relationships with those we serve? What does it mean to think critically and intentionally about the consumer experience in healthcare, as opposed to simply what a CMS survey mandates? 

Chad Ghastin is vice president of consumer experience at VNS Health in New York City where he leads the enterprise strategy and execution of programs to increase consumer satisfaction and advocacy. Chad earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, and a master's degree in integrated marketing from New York University. For two years, he served as an adjunct graduate professor of CRM and Customer Experience at NYU. He is a Certified Customer Experience Professional as designated by the Customer Experience Professionals Association.

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Tune in to our latest podcast episode for a rapid response to the final Medicaid Access Rule. Join host Tony Kudner and special guest David Totaro of BAYADA Hearts for Home Care as they dissect the implications of the 80/20 rule on home care providers. From understanding key components to exploring challenges and potential solutions, this episode offers valuable insights into the future of home-based care. Whether you’re a caregiver, administrator or advocate, don’t miss this opportunity to stay informed and be part of the conversation shaping the landscape of healthcare delivery. Listen now for a deep dive into the Medicaid Access Rule and its impact on home care.

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How can home health and hospice organizations apply data to provide better patient care? What if data-driven predictive modeling could define with a high degree of certainty that a patient was on the verge of hospitalization … or pinpoint when a patient would die?

What do future opportunities look like as artificial intelligence and machine learning make predictive modeling even more accurate and able to adjust predictions in real time as risk factors change?

In this episode, Elliott Wood – president and CEO of Medalogix – and Stan Massey discuss these impactful topics and more.

With Medalogix since 2013, Elliott leads the company in providing data outcomes that empower home health and hospice to make better patient care decisions. Based in Nashville, Medalogix is dedicated to empowering individualized patient care with innovative, data-driven solutions that enable a shift to value-based care. Including previous roles at HealthStream Inc in Nashville and AirStrip Technology in San Antonio, Elliott holds over 15 years of healthcare technology experience.

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Sometimes it’s good to put two “like minds” in a room and get them talking. You don’t have to ask us twice! Transcend’s Stan Massey and Tony Kudner sit down for a free-flowing conversation about the biggest trends in home-based care over the last 10 to 15 years, and discuss what skills might serve providers well in the years to come.

With much of Transcend’s research, we aim to have a discrete point of view and easily digestible takeaways. We want to ensure our insights and thoughts align with our philosophy and perspectives on home-based care so we can pass useful ideas on to our clients and partners.

While we’re all for brevity and concrete information, sometimes it’s fun to just sit down and chat. There’s so much going on these days that it can be refreshing to just have an open-ended conversation about the state of the community. In this episode of our Transcending Home Care podcast, Transcend’s Senior Partner Stan Massey and Chief Strategy Officer Tony Kudner sit down for a free-flowing conversation about the big trends in home-based care that shaped the last 10 to 15 years and made some guesses about what the future might hold.

Stan has decades of experience in home-based care. He has supported some of the biggest rebrands the community has seen and has written some of the most memorable and moving campaigns to connect family caregivers to the support their loved ones need. Tony recently joined Transcend after spending time in leadership at several national home-based care providers, as well as working in advocacy and policy for one of the major trade associations.

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Data is becoming increasingly engrained and revered in the world of healthcare. And, indeed, data is vitally important in improving medical science, measuring outcomes and proving the value of specific processes.

Yet, as data continues to grow in priority, that emphasis can cause patients to feel like a number in an ever-expanding sea of numbers. Going back to Hippocrates, medicine was designed to treat people, not just diseases. In fact, one of the main principles of the Hippocratic Oath centers on respect for the patient’s autonomy.

So how do healthcare providers retain the humanity and dignity of patients and their families while data reigns?

In this episode, Tim Short (M.D., HMDC, FAAFP, FAAHPM, FNAP) joins host Stan Massey of Transcend Strategy Group to discuss this crucial topic. Their conversation covers how to engage the art of empathy, as well as how to maintain a feel of high-touch care while high-tech continues to emerge in all facets of healthcare practices. Tim and Stan even discuss how to leverage technology to improve communications with patients and families, so they feel heard and understood.

As implied by all those letters after his name, Tim has enjoyed an illustrious and impactful career in family practice as well as in practicing hospice and palliative medicine. He most recently served as chief medical officer at Hospice of the Piedmont in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he also was director of their education institute. That program developed education and training modules for healthcare professionals on a variety of subjects.

Among other positions at several institutions, Doctor Short also served as associate professor of palliative medicine at the University of Virginia. While there, he was clinical director of the Schwartz Center rounds and course director for the “Heart of Medicine,” mentoring first-year medical students on how to apply skills such as the art of listening, communicating with patients and having difficult conversations. 

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Value is more than a buzzword in home-based care these days. Agencies know that payers, policymakers and consumers are all expecting it in the care they provide. But where should a hospice or home care agency start when thinking about how to demonstrate that value? How do you create a value proposition when there isn’t yet a roadmap for doing so?

It all begins with taking a step back and defining exactly who you’re trying to prove value to: Is it the payer? Is it a health system? Perhaps a patient and their caregiver? Once you’ve truly defined your audience, the rest can start to fall into place. Agencies can then start to examine the MMA – what’s Measurable, what’s Monetizable and what’s Attributable to their efforts.

In this episode, Craig Solid, PhD, owner and principal of Solid Research Group, joins host Stan Massey of Transcend Strategy Group to discuss creating a value proposition for a home-based care organization and get into the details of how to think about proprietary versus public data sources, defining audiences, and finding your key allies and advocates.

Solid Research Group (SRG) is a healthcare consultancy focused on defining and demonstrating value and business cases for scale-stage medical device and med-tech companies. SRG has advised and built business cases for early-stage companies across the United States, Europe and Australia. While SRG’s focus is on scale-stage companies, other clients have also included large companies (Medtronic, Optum, Boston Scientific) and various academic institutions.    

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A financially viable home-based palliative care model is driven by appropriate practices, processes and logistics. A big part of establishing successful parameters comes from starting with a sensible staffing model.

What are the right roles in a palliative care start-up? How should a provider schedule patient visits? What’s the proper mix of in-person visits versus support by phone or virtual video visits? How does the right level of patient care translate into manageable caseloads for clinicians and social workers? How can providers make sure services are covered by reimbursement?

In this second episode of a two-part series, Mark Hendrix, president of nTakt, and Amanda Copeland, a palliative care nurse practitioner, join host Stan Massey of Transcend Strategy Group to discuss staffing, billing, telehealth and other smart palliative care practices. 

Mark’s company, nTakt, is focused on building sustainable palliative care programs by utilizing meaningful technologies, uncomplicating processes and providing hands-on training. Mark has over 35 years of experience in process improvement and business turnaround. He is trained as a Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt with over 10 years of experience applying Lean concepts in healthcare settings. Mark also has served as Operations Director for CMMI Palliative Care Grant and has had results published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine.

Amanda Copeland, AGNP, has dedicated over 20 years to caring for seriously ill patients, primarily focusing on hospice and palliative care in home settings. She is passionate about supporting seriously ill patients and families during this difficult part of their life’s journey. Amanda played an integral role in building a successful home-based palliative program that has served more than a thousand families and continues to expand into new regions.

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Most healthcare providers – especially providers of care at patients’ homes – started their organizations offering one particular service line. Whether that original service was home health, hospice, private duty nursing or something else, many organizations felt the need to expand their services and engage with patients for more needs over longer periods of time.

When these organizations added even one more service, they often began to talk about their “continuum of care.” But how expansive should a continuum be? How can agencies know what service lines to add and when to make the expansions? How do you make margins on new service lines? And what about staffing when it’s challenging enough to keep current positions filled?

In this podcast episode, Rhonda Sanders, chief mission access officer of Empath Health, joins host Stan Massey to share details of how her organization has built a very robust continuum of care that engages patients and families at different stages of life. Empath Health offers 10 service lines – and growing – including a sexual health program for adults of all ages. Rhonda and Stan discuss Empath’s business strategies for adding services, keeping up with staffing demands, the use of telehealth, appealing to managed care plans, different reimbursement models and more. 

Rhonda Sanders joined Empath Health in November 2021. Rhonda plays an integral part in helping Empath Health continue to evolve as a customer-driven organization and is responsible for driving growth and enabling access among consumers, payers and referral sources for each of the organization’s services lines as well as overseeing the agency’s managed care strategies. A seasoned executive in healthcare operations, business development and sales, Rhonda has succeeded in leading growth strategies for home-based healthcare providers serving large, multi-state regions. Most recently, Rhonda served as vice president of business development for Amedisys Home Health, Central Region, in Lubbock, Texas. She also served as area vice president of sales/operations for Kindred at Home in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Oklahoma.