ABSTRACT
Home health care refers to those services provided through use of licensed health-care workers designed to meet the needs of home-bound and community-based patients. Many home health-care agencies are dually licensed to provide hospice services to care for those with terminal illness. As technology continues to change the delivery of health care across the care continuum, it will be necessary for the home health-care industry to adapt accordingly. For patients residing in rural areas, telehealth can meaningfully expand access to care by bringing health care to patients in their homes, eliminating the distance between providers and their patients. As the industry works to combat labor shortages and address recruitment and retention challenges, many home health-care agencies have deployed a strategy of launching specialized care programs. In doing so, the agencies are working to meaningfully shift the perception of home health care from non-skilled, lower value care to specialized patient-centered care programs.
