Home Care & Hospice: Key to Better Health Care Outcomes, Increased Savings
NHCOA MediaSpotlight
By Val J. Halamandaris, President, National Association for Home Care and Hospice
“What we need to do is take care of people till the end of their days, we have the resources, and we have the money. What is at stake is the very future of American democracy and how we are going to be viewed through the prism of history because all great civilizations can be measured by a common yard stick- how did they take care of our vulnerable populations.” President John F. Kennedy
Ensuring the right to be cared for in our homes is America’s last great civil rights battle. Our goal at the National Association for Home Care & Hospice is to help frail, disabled and dying Americans stay independent and happy in the comfort of their homes.
While hospitals do amazing work to save and better people’s lives, they can often be a scarily unfamiliar place and prone to spreading infections. Home care allows people to get well and live to their potential in a comfortable setting. It’s a fundamental shift from the system’s focus on the treatment of disease to the prevention of disease.
Most often, the critically important work of home care and hospice workers is frequently unnoticed by society at large. These incredible professionals provide care day in and day out to homebound, elderly and infirm Americans in the comfort of their own homes. Home care and hospice professionals connect with patients in a more personal, more human way. Beyond simply tending to health care needs, they provide a social interaction, meeting with individuals who in many cases would otherwise be alone and left in the shadows.
The care that is given through home health and hospice is second to none, especially with the advances in tele-health technology. All of this occurs in the comfort of the patient’s own home, at a much reduced cost to Medicare and insurance companies.
As more Americans take advantage of new policies in the recent health care legislation that allow them more access to home care and hospice, the demand for qualified home health aides, registered nurses and other care providers will grow. Job growth in the industry is expected to increase an astounding 48 percent by 2018. In 2009, the average home care visit cost $135.00 per day versus the average hospital visit which cost $1500 a day. Preventive home health care saves Medicare and Medicaid billions of dollars per year.
Today, millions of America’s seniors and disabled citizens depend on home care services to remain healthy, stable, and out of costly traditional settings. For decades, caring for the elderly, disabled and chronically ill at home has provided a dignified and high-efficient method of treatment. Home-based care is also clinically effective, utilizing advanced technologies and helping to cost-effectively manage chronic diseases that account for 75 percent of our nation’s health care spending.
It was a pleasure for me to participate at the National Hispanic Council on Aging’s 2011 National Summit in Washington, DC. Working with other national organizations is vital to solving issues impacting Hispanic older adults, their families, and caregivers.
The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) is the nation’s largest trade association representing the interests and concerns of home care agencies, hospices, home care aide organizations, and medical equipment suppliers. Simply put, NAHC is the one organization dedicated to making home care and hospice providers lives easier.
The National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCOA) thanks Val J. Halamandaris for his contribution to the NHCOA Spotlight. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of its author and do not necessarily reflect those of NHCOA.