Talkin’ Shop: Transcend Staff Discusses the Latest Developments in Care at Home

While on the road with a client in Iowa, my colleagues Courtney Penn, Tony Kudner and I sat down to talk shop about the latest developments in healthcare and in care at home, as well as our advice to providers on navigating it all. If you prefer listening to reading, we recorded the conversation as a podcast episode, too.

The shadow looming large over our whole conversation was the recent deadly shooting of UnitedHealthcare (UHC) CEO Brian Thompson. This tragic event has uncorked intense angst among healthcare consumers about the disfunction of insurance and the impact of capitalism on healthcare access. And these shock waves have already sparked changes as Anthem Blue Cross rolled back plans to cap anesthesia hours in some states. We expect the new administration, who campaigned on consumer prices and access, will be caught between corporate interests and consumer concerns. The idea of privatizing VA care has already been met by heavy push back from veterans, many of whom voted for the new administration. There’s no doubt VA care has room for improvement, but it has come a long way over the past 10 to 20 years in terms of quality and access.

We also discussed the latest news on the possible acquisition of Amedisys by UHC, who also owns LHC Group. When merger news was first announced in early 2024, I wrote a blog post encouraging providers not to worry because of the significant barriers to such a merger making it through regulatory review, let alone realizing full potential as an integrated entity. In November, the Justice Department filed suit to bar the merger. There is a big gap between intention and realization! It’s too early to say I told you so, but it does feel quite good when your tea-leaf reading is accurate.

We also discussed the reality that more providers are struggling with census and length of stay.

The strategies that first fueled growth aren’t working. No longer can you stand up an agency, hire a liaison team to do some “muffin marketing” and expect referrals to come. Competing today means you have to offer something meaningfully different and valuable to providers, patients and families. In the face of increased competition, it’s more important than ever that providers cultivate meaningful competitive advantage. This requires working on their reputation and public image as well as concentrating on differentiators that are significant in the eyes of their audiences, particularly referral sources, employees, patients and families.

Transcend tracks the return on investment from this work and shares data each year on the outcomes our clients achieve by building meaningful competitive advantage. As of 2024, the average ROI is 20 to 1, with some providers realizing 30 or even 40 to 1 outcomes. These numbers are up from our 2023 report of 17 to 1.

Critically important is that providers are part of a working association that advocates for our industry and facilitates learning and connection among its members. Dr. Stephen Landers, the new executive director of the National Alliance for Care at Home, is signaling a desire to focus on both of these areas. It’s early days, but recent moves, including appointing an experienced provider like Sherl Brand as COO, are promising.

The future of care at home in 2025 and beyond continues to be promising. We are bullish on hospice, on private duty care, on pediatric care and on behavioral health. We expect value-based care to continue to evolve and we expect a strong care at home association to amplify the voice of our industry. For our part, Transcend is enthusiastically investing in expertise, services and tools to help our clients grow and serve as many patients and families as possible, realizing their mission and ours. Want to grow with us? Email us at [email protected] to learn more or to get a copy of our latest ROI report.