Two top home health companies, VNS Health and Bayada Home Health Care, highlight their organizations by investing in research.
Research departments are still rare across the home-based care industry. However, organizations conducting research capabilities have been able to improve patient outcomes, develop data that proves valuable in payer negotiations, and remain at the cutting edge of care delivery.
“Home care institutions have value when it comes to home health institutions when they can demonstrate that new models of care can demonstrate return on investment by demonstrating better results,” said Bayada's chief researcher for home care innovation. “Then you go to the payer and ask for a different fee,” Johnson said.
Bayada offers home health, home care, hospice and behavioral health services in 22 states. There are also international locations operating in Germany, India, Ireland, New Zealand and Korea. Overall, Bayada has around 33,000 employees nationwide. The company cares for an average of 46,000 clients each week.
Finally, VNS Health has its own center for home care policies and research. The company's research division has been around for 33 years, raising more than $60 million in external funding, and publishes over 500 articles in peer-reviewed journals.
New York-based VNS Health is a full-service, home-based care organization. On certain days, the company has over 55,000 patients, members and clients in its care.
In her role as Director of the VNS Health Center for Home Care Policy & Research, Kathy Bowles is working to set the strategic direction for the department and raise research funding with the priorities of the National Institutes of Health and home- and community-based industries in mind.
In addition to her role at VNS Health, Bowles also serves as Professor of Nursing Excellence in Penn Nursing and Chair of Van Amaringen.
In 2024, a research by the Centre added new diagnostic codes to the annual update of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) list. The Bowles team reviewed records of nearly 170,000 sepsis survivors who participated in home care nationwide, finding that sepsis is only recognized in hospitalization ratings.
“We believe there is this direct correlation between the research that has been done with this improved diagnostic code and the research that has been done, and this has a single goal of improving the quality of care,” VNS Health CEO and President Dan Savitt told HHCN. “I look forward to seeing how this will improve care over time.”
This diagnostic code has now become a product of VNS Health's research, so the company can accurately label and track these sepsis survivors. The company can also track the resources needed to care for sepsis survivors.
“That's really important for a lot of reasons,” Bowles said. “We can label patients correctly, and it can cause sepsis-focused care plans, timely attention and the close monitoring they need. It has helped us improve the time at the start of care for sepsis survivors at our agency.
According to Bowles, VNS' research centres are important as they allow home health companies to become part of the learning health system.
“Learning health systems are when organizations use the data, information and knowledge they generate in practice to improve operations and outcomes,” Bowles said. “It means partnering with acute care to tackle a care transition (for example); another example is sharing data between home healthcare organizations, so we can learn from each other about how people are achieving results with a particular line of care or a particular diagnosis.
Produce better results for patients
In addition to VNS Health, Bayada joined a small club of home health providers with a research-focused department when they nominated Johnson Chief Research of Home Care Innovation last year.
“We are responsible for partnering with each practice to add an additional level of thought and rigor to the projects we are working on. Ultimately, in the short term, we will improve the outcomes of the patients we serve,” he told HHCN. “Essentially, my role is to help accelerate better care, simple and simple care.”
Before being appointed, Johnson served as president of Baiada's home health department for nearly a decade.
To accelerate Bayada's research capabilities, the company is focusing on forming partnerships with academic institutions. The company is currently in discussion with at least 20 universities as part of the networking process.
Additionally, the company is working with researchers from Children's Hospital Philadelphia, Children's Hospital Boston, and Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago to research the transition of care processes from hospitals for medically vulnerable children. As one of the nation's largest home-based pediatric providers, the findings support the company's goals to improve care for this population.
Bayada was also recently awarded an academic in the Learning Health System. This will partner with the company, support research methodology and accelerate Bayada's research.
Johnson believes that the greatest value of having a research department in Bayada can focus solely on proving which models of care produce the best outcomes.
Johnson noted that this is particularly important for providers operating under the Home Health Value Based Purchasing (HHVBP) model.
Bayada and VNS Health are currently working on many projects. Bayada studies a variety of care models, including how payment structures affect the delivery of care. The company also focuses on collecting data to predict hospitalization risk.
Meanwhile, VNS Health is developing risk models and early warning systems to support clinicians during home health episodes. The company is also working to detect undiagnosed dementia by using AI to analyze audio recordings.
Ultimately, Johnson believes that home health leaders are already well suited to embrace research as an important component of the organization.
“For those who run home healthcare institutions, you actually think like a scientist already, and research is just a level of discipline, determination and curiosity,” he said.
