While there is no single panacea for home health providers to overcome business challenges, operate more efficiently and expand their operations, technology has repeatedly emerged as a critical component of providers’ strategies for 2025 and beyond.
The priority for home care providers is to improve efficiency through AI and predictive analytics, as well as improve patient outcomes. However, adopting these tools faces the challenges of integrating multiple technology systems and training employees.
That’s according to a Home Health Care News survey of 109 home care professionals. More than 70% of respondents were executives or in other operational roles. Of the organizations surveyed, 58% provide Medicare-certified home health care, 54% provide non-medical home care, and 33% provide Medicaid-certified personal care. 23% provide private nursing care, 20% provide palliative care services, and 7% provide hospital care at home.
Previous research showed that the majority of home care providers plan to increase their use of AI, and many industry players see AI as the key to addressing industry challenges and evolution reimbursement models.
Vendors are not rushing to adopt technology. Only 19% of respondents said they considered their organization to be an “early adopter” of technology. In comparison, 46% said their organizations were “selective innovators” and 26% said their organization was “slow adopter.”
Half of survey respondents said they prioritize personnel and workforce analytics for future investments.
Investing in workforce technology can improve overall efficiency as well as caregiver engagement and satisfaction, Kerin Zuger, Caretech COO, said previously HHCN.
“(Leaders should) analyze their business, figure out what technologies are already in place, where the gaps are, and then make those technologies talk to each other,” she said.
After personnel and workforce analytics as the top investment priority, real-time operations dashboards came in second, cited by 49% of respondents. SEO pipeline analytics follows at 45%, followed closely by predictive analytics at 41%.
Several home health providers have recently launched predictive analytics platforms to improve patient outcomes in their organizations. Team Select Home Care recently launched a predictive analytics platform for its pediatric respiratory patients, resulting in a significant reduction in hospitalizations.
Bayada Home Health Care also recently deployed its predictive analytics model designed to prevent falls and reduce hospitalizations among its personal care clients.
“Risk prediction and algorithms continue to be, especially with artificial intelligence, where we can actually get insights,” Mike Johnson, chief researcher of home care innovation at Bayada, previously told HHCN. “The reason we’re looking at risk prediction to reduce falls is because we think the downstream impact is hospitalization or higher costs. … When you’re talking to Medicaid payers who are under a tremendous amount of stress, if we can show them how we can be proactive and reduce readmissions and admissions, not just readmissions, that’s a conversation they’re interested in.”
Just over half of respondents expect to benefit from AI or predictive analytics by improving clinician efficiency. Early identification of patient risks and increased referrals were also of interest, with 38% and 35% of respondents expecting these benefits.
Despite these and other potential benefits, vendors face several challenges when implementing analytics and market intelligence tools.
Respondents primarily cited staff adoption and mastery of data, difficulty integrating internal and external data, and the cost of platforms or upgrades.
For technology investments to be worthwhile, tools must have a measurable impact on cost of care, patient outcomes and generate a better experience, according to Bud Langham, advisor and former executive vice president of Enhabit Home Health & Hospice.
“The key is to identify from your strategy what technology you’re looking for, because there are so many out there,” Langham said at HHCN’s FUTURE conference. “So identify the technologies you’re looking for, really focus and drive aggressively. If you fail, which we all do, fail, that’s okay, fail fast, fail and move on. Because we all have to innovate.”