An aging population, increasing disease burden and rising health care costs are driving a shift in our industry. The result is that the need and demand for care delivery in the home is rapidly increasing. In addition to convenience, in-home care delivery can help reduce costs, improve outcomes and reach patients who would not otherwise have access to primary care.
Why in-home care is needed
The pandemic revealed the shortcomings of traditional care settings, particularly in underserved populations. Out of necessity, in-person and virtual in-home care became the go-to source for critical access to care for people across the U.S. This proved the ability to offer patients safe, reliable and personalized support without the time, transportation and financial barriers associated with office-based care for many Americans.
While many patients have been able to resume office-based care in the last few years, cost pressures and population shifts have increased the need for in-home care options. Many patients who are functionally homebound or reside in care deserts do not have ready access to primary care, resulting in lower compliance with care recommendations and greater use of high-cost care sites such as ERs and hospitals for their primary care needs. Home-based care provides a convenient and accessible alternative: addressing individual needs earlier, in a lower-cost setting, while still maintaining quality.
“With Lucet at Home, we’re building a whole-person, home-based care model focused on delivering the right care, in the right place, at the right time.”
Sean Martin, MD – Chief Medical Officer
Who benefits most
In-home care is most impactful for people who face the greatest barriers to access office-based care, including:
- Those who are considered homebound, particularly older individuals with mobility challenges.
- Those who are “functionally homebound,” such as lower income populations and those with multiple chronic conditions who cannot easily access care due to time, financial and/or transportation barriers.
- Underserved populations with limited access to care options where they live, such as rural residents.
By enabling access, the in-home care model provides patients who previously could not consistently reach a clinic with an avenue to personalized, longitudinal care in their homes.
Enabling whole-person care
In-home care also provides unique opportunities to better address whole-person care that are not possible with office-based care. For example, in-home visits allow for the opportunity to observe patients in their living environments, providing invaluable information related to commonly “unseen” risks such as home safety, fall risk, ability to manage medications and health-related social needs.
Integrating medical and behavioral health
Co-occurring mental health and/or substance use disorders are common in people with chronic conditions. Lucet data suggest this rate is even higher in the homebound population, which is consistent published data. As a result, integrating medical and behavioral health in home-based care models is a key factor to successfully managing both cost and clinical outcomes for this cohort. At Lucet, leveraging technology to create end-to-end care connections and information sharing across medical and behavioral health services is a central feature of our integration model.
For patients with chronic conditions, this means whole-person care that feels seamless and supportive. For health plans, it means healthier populations, measurable savings and outcomes aligned with value-based goals.
In-home care represents a critical tool to address the needs of marginalized and aging populations. With Lucet at Home, we’re building a whole-person, home-based care model focused on delivering the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
Sean Martin, MD is chief medical officer at Lucet.
