A growing number of senior living providers are reporting successful outcomes from implementing home and community-based services (HCBS), which have seen an uptick in interest from providers looking to reach older Americans who prefer to age in place.
Fifty-two percent of the largest not-for-profit system providers offer some sort of home and community-based service off-campus to non-residents, according to a recent Ziegler article citing research from the LeadingAge Ziegler 150 publication. And 32.5% of senior living providers are considering offering a Continuing Care at-Home (CCaH) program in the next two years.
The sector is also observing a number of joint ventures and partnerships being developed in the HCBS marketplace, particularly with regard to PACE, home health and home care, data show.
The percentage of overall annual revenue from HCBS from non-residents was 3.4%, and 2.4% from residents, data show.
Speaking at a recent Ziegler conference, Lynne Giacobbe, executive director of Ohio-based Kendal at Home, said the program’s success is due to critical factors including strong, pre-development market research before launching the program, offering multiple plans to prospective members, effective and strict underwriting, robust actuarial assumptions, and aggressive market strategies among others.
A CCaH program differs from a bricks-and-mortar CCRC, from the lower cost of entry, to less healthcare utilization and younger age demographics among Kendal at Home members, Giacobbe said.
There are both benefits and risks of a CCaH program, which is still an evolving business model with few programs over 20 years old.
Ultimately, the ability of the program to expand the mission to serve older adults and touch a segment of the local market who would not otherwise consider moving into a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) is attractive for operators.
Westminster Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay, a single-site CCRC with more than 630 units located in Virginia Beach, Va., elected to offer home health, home care and hospice services to control quality of care and outcomes, grow and diversify revenue streams, prepare for post-acute strategies and payment and more, said President and CEO Ben Unkle.
“The [17th Annual Ziegler conference] conveyed that there are multiple ways providers can expand into home and community-based services,” says Lisa McCracken, senior vice president of Senior Living Research and Development at Ziegler, in the article. “What each presenter clearly communicated is that it is important to fully understand the market and what expertise is needed for each business line and, where partnership opportunities exist, they should be explored.”
Read the article here.
Written by Cassandra Dowell
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