Recent growth in the number of health care workers providing home care for Medicare patients is “small and inadequate” compared with the increasing demand in an aging America, a new study suggests.
To have hope of keeping up, Medicare likely will need to reconsider how it compensates providers for home care, the researchers say.
“Only 0.7% of physicians in Medicare provided home care regularly,” said Nengliang “Aaron” Yao, a researcher with the University of Virginia School of Medicine’s Section of Geriatric Medicine. “Targeted policies are needed to support home-based medical care.”
Trends in Home Care
Growth in the field of home care was “modest but steady” between 2012 and 2016, with most of the growth coming from increasing numbers of nurse practitioners providing home visits, the study found.
The total number of providers offering in-home care for Medicare patients grew from about 14,100 to approximately 16,600 between 2012 and 2016, the researchers report. But there was also strong churn in the field – approximately 4,000 new providers began offering home visits each year, while roughly 3,000 stopped.
Demand for home care already exceeds supply in much of the country. Only about 15% of frail older adults receive medical care at home. America’s aging population, growing numbers of patients with dementia and increasing preference for aging in place all will continue to drive demand, the researchers said.
