In the December 2024 Ziegler CFO Hotline Survey, one of the reasons senior housing and care providers offer home- and community-based services is to accommodate assisted living residents who have exhausted their resources .
The survey was the first time the Chicago-based specialty investment bank asked respondents for feedback on HCBS. HCBS is growing among continuing care retirement/life planning communities looking for ways to address the needs of their current residents and, in some cases, those around them. community.
Nearly 200 organizations participated in the November survey of senior living and care chief financial officers and other financial professionals, with approximately 120 (61%) offering HCBS. reported. Ziegler said the respondent population was “heavily weighted” toward nonprofit CCRCs.
HCBS offerings were highest among single-site CCRCs (54%), followed by multisite (same state) providers at 30%. The majority (70%) of organizations providing HCBS provided home care, with 43% providing home health care, 32% providing hospice, and 21.9% providing continuing care at home. provided.
Healthcare providers (18%) who said their organization provided “other” services included assisted living, outpatient rehabilitation areas, senior centers, clinics, palliative care provision, companion services, or general memory enhancement. He said the program offers HCBS.
Most respondents said they provided HCBS on-site (86%), and 72% said they provided home care. Other locations where providers delivered HCBS (5%) were assisted living homes, surrounding communities, and churches.
Respondents' top reasons for offering HCBS included meeting increased demand for services in the home (80%), expanding mission (71%), supplementing existing service lines (70%); Revenue diversification (55%) was included. ) and middle market (20%). A small number of respondents gave other reasons (6%). These include using HCBS as a way to accommodate existing assisted living residents who have exhausted resources when other long-term care is not an option, or where HCBS provides an additional layer of security. . campus when residents relied on existing staff for services.
When asked about the benefits of providing HCBS, respondents indicated that providing HCBS helps expand their mission or complements their existing mission, provides continuity of care and quality care, or said they can serve current residents while providing insight into their care needs.
However, participants also cited disadvantages of providing HCBS, with the main challenges being finding, retaining, and paying staff. They also cited financial burdens, narrow profit margins, low reimbursements, and complexity in getting up and running.
When it comes to staffing, most (86%) said they use their own nursing staff, but 14% use outside staffing services and 12% use joint venture partnerships with other healthcare providers. Respondents responded that they dispatched personnel to HCBS services through “other'' methods such as In some cases, we may share some ownership with the staffing of another HCBS service company and/or agency.
Among respondents who said their organization does not offer HCBS, nearly 70% said they had no plans to do so. Of the approximately 30% planning to offer HCBS, about half said they would do so within the next two years, and the remainder said it would be more than two years away.
