Key Takeaways | Growth From Within: Service Line Expansion: Telehealth, Hospital at Home, Post-Acute Care

Hospitals and health systems face familiar and emerging pressures as they seek to expand service lines, develop revenue streams and explore new methods of care delivery. Service line partnerships can provide innovative solutions to these common issues by bringing together parties with physical assets, key licenses, management experience, access to capital and other resources necessary to develop a successful service line.

During this webinar as part of our Growth From Within series, McDermott Partners Sandy DiVarco, Dale Van Demark and Sarah Kitchell joined McDermott+ Vice President Rachel Stauffer to discuss strategies for expanding into care models beyond the four walls of a hospital or health system.

Top takeaways included:

1. The regulatory landscape for care outside of a facility remains uncertain. The COVID-19 public health emergency accelerated rulemaking surrounding access to care outside of the standard in-person facilities. However, both telehealth flexibilities and the hospital at home waiver program expire at the end of 2024, creating uncertainty about the future of payment structures and waivers. Stakeholders continue to express interest in at least temporary extension of these programs while permanent solutions are discussed. In addition to tracking federal rules, healthcare entities considering a different model also must comply with state requirements and any relevant payor agreements.
2. Hospitals and health systems can engage patients by teaming up with partners. As clinicians and patients have become more comfortable with new care delivery models, such as telehealth and home care, hospitals are well positioned to contribute to innovation by partnering with outside entities to expand care. Such partnerships could include technology licensing or contributing to research and development for a third-party’s technology. There are also opportunities to form joint ventures to provide post-acute care. Working with other entities requires ongoing attention to potential fraud and abuse concerns, so it is important to clearly account for the relationships of all parties to avoid healthcare compliance issues. Hospitals and health systems should also pay close attention to compensation and payment and should align expectations on resources.
3. Prior to operating a hospital-at-home program, a facility needs to account for the very technical nature of the requirements. The hospital-at-home program has become more popular in recent years, especially with the Medicare waiver triggered by the public health emergency. However, the process is still very technical and requires an intense review of the patient base (with respect to both the types of care provided/conditions treated and geographical distance) and the resources required to provide proper care. Based on the conditions eligible for treatment during a hospital-at-home stay, the resources required to provide sufficient services can vary widely. For example, the hospital will need to be able to provide certain patients with clinical equipment to monitor the patient and help assess their condition, which may mean storing transportable equipment until it is needed. When establishing a new hospital-at-home program, the facility needs to keep in mind what services will be offered, and what clinical staff and equipment are required to meet the relevant standard of care.

Explore more webinars in the Growth From Within: Hospitals and Health Systems Service Line Expansion series here.