DOH Post-Acute Care Management Models Work Group Meets
The Department of Health's (DOH) Post-Acute Care Management Models Work Group met for the first time last week to discuss barriers to home-based, post-acute care and possible changes in regulation to promote access. This Work Group is the first in a series of groups that will be convened to support the Department's Regulatory Modernization Initiative. Co-chaired by Mark Kissinger, Special Advisor to the Commissioner of Health, and Sara Butterfield, Senior Director at IPRO, the Work Group is considering new models of home-based, post-acute care delivered by hospitals and the regulatory framework governing such models.
In a wide-ranging discussion, Work Group members raised workforce issues, payment rates, the impact of new value-based payment arrangements, and the Certified Home Health Agency (CHHA) Conditions of Participation as key considerations to inform the Department's policy analysis. LeadingAge NY is a member of the Work Group, and our staff highlighted the need for a rapid and proactive response to growing workforce shortages. We also urged the group to consider partnerships between hospitals and the existing home care infrastructure, rather than building new infrastructure. We noted that patients are increasingly seeing multiple care managers and coordinators along the continuum. This is confusing to patients and caregivers and creates more handoffs and opportunities for inconsistent instructions and communication breakdowns. In addition, we highlighted the need for additional investment in electronic health records and health information exchange among long-term/post-acute care providers and additional flexibility in telehealth regulations.
A recording of the meeting is available here. The next Post-Acute Care Management Models Work Group meeting is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 13th in New York City.
Additional Work Groups are expected to cover certificate of need (CON) reforms, telehealth, and integrated primary care and behavioral health. More information about the Regulatory Modernization Initiative is available here and here.
Contact: Karen Lipson, klipson@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8383 ext. 124