Having clinical care based in the home is a safe and effective way to support older adults with complex medical needs. But these services generally are underutilized, a new study found.
A study in JAMDA (the official journal of The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine) reported that many people who would derive value from home-based clinical services aren’t receiving them. In fact, about 30% of Medicare beneficiaries who are homebound received home health services — with clinical care being the most common type of home health service.
The report also found that 80% of people on Medicare accessed some home-based long-term services and supports (LTSS) such as paid caregivers, home modifications and assistive devices. People who received home-based clinical care were more likely to utilize home-based LTSS as well, the team found.
“While our findings describe … the need for home-based care, services and supports, we see that many types of home-based services were used at low frequency,” the authors wrote.
The findings aligned with previous research that found home-based clinical care is largely underutilized. They also suggest that certain types of home-based LTSS such as home delivery meals also aren’t utilized to their full potential.
A 2020 study in Health Affairs specifically found that homebound people getting medical care were more likely to live in an assisted living facility or a metropolitan area. The people also were more apt to have dementia and to have been hospitalized in the previous year. But home health largely misses people in other areas such as rural communities.
One roadblock to higher utilization could be affordability of the services because they’re covered by a variety of payers, and that coverage can vary based on where a person lives if they don’t have Medicare.
The authors called for more research into the ways people can access home-based care, and how the federal government can expand efforts to reach more people. The research also should evaluate how different factors play a part in who utilizes the services.
This article originally appeared on McKnights Home Care
