When there are such a lot of challenges to beat in an space like house care, leaders should set priorities. Curiously sufficient, nonetheless, not many firms have the identical high priorities.

The priorities are a great reflection of what house care leaders consider will result in options. Nevertheless, their priorities are usually not what you’ll take into account options in themselves.

For Elara Caring, the emphasis is on the expertise of healthcare suppliers and sufferers.

Naturally, each supplier needs to supply a high-quality affected person and caregiver expertise. However by prioritizing this, CEO Scott Powers believes, Elara Caring can enhance in numerous areas. This consists of recruitment and retention, but additionally initiatives within the discipline of value-oriented care.

Elara Caring, based mostly in Dallas, gives care to greater than 60,000 sufferers at roughly 200 places. It affords house care, hospice, private care, palliative care and behavioral well being care.

Residence Well being Care Information spoke with Powers to debate the corporate's key focuses in 2024, in addition to what they’re searching for with regards to Medicare Benefit plan negotiations, development of particular service strains and next-generation expertise.

Beneath is the dialog, edited for size and readability.

HHCN: What are your greatest priorities for 2024, the areas you’re most targeted on?

Powers: I’d say it's actually in regards to the expertise of healthcare suppliers and sufferers.

Healthcare suppliers are the gas for our development. If we develop the enterprise like we did final 12 months, it is going to all be as a result of we are able to retain and recruit extra healthcare suppliers.

The market is getting somewhat higher. I believe our understanding of what individuals need and what motivates them is enhancing.

After which from a affected person expertise perspective, it's actually about how will we proceed so as to add worth to these conversations throughout all of our totally different service strains, like measuring Internet Promoter Rating, issues like that. It actually tries to interrupt down what's necessary to sufferers.

Lastly, I’d say we're simply rising the enterprise in our present places, so taking extra market share, getting denser, getting larger, within the locations the place we do enterprise at present by actually working by way of that referral expertise.

So that you hear lots about expertise, and lots of that stuff actually turns the group on its head somewhat bit by what drives suppliers, sufferers and referral sources. And since we’re good at that, it creates extra development for us. In a nutshell, these are our priorities.

Is there a particular service line that you simply wish to develop or refine all year long?

Sure, our private care enterprise, simply because we've made so many adjustments to the caregiver expertise, and we actually anticipate to develop there. That's in all probability primary.

Quantity two is our experience. Demand merely continues to exceed provide. So we discover that we are able to take over a big a part of our opponents, as a result of the variety of healthcare suppliers is rising. So these are the 2 that we're most targeted on.

We speak lots about natural development within the present places. However from an M&A perspective, do you suppose issues will open up a bit extra this 12 months?

Sure, now we have already made three acquisitions, and we’ll do extra right here in 2024. They have been small, tucked-in acquisitions.

I’d say these mid-sized platform firms, I believe we'll see a number of extra in play. I believe you'll see somewhat extra exercise this 12 months on the bigger firms than final 12 months. I believe rates of interest will assist with that.

And I believe personal fairness will turn into somewhat extra concerned in a few of these offers. I don't know in regards to the massive, mega offers, I don't have a lot perception into what number of of them will occur, however I believe a few of these mid-sized offers will come to market.

Medicare Benefit clearly stays an necessary matter in house care. Any updates on the way you're approaching MA plans?

Sure, I’d say we've had lots of success over the past 12 months and that may proceed.

I believe that is brought on by the shortage of entry to house care. That's a giant a part of it, mixed with an extended hospital keep. I believe payers are somewhat extra open to having conversations with us and shifting right into a values-based world as a result of that's necessary to them.

I see most of all of them coming to the desk with extra affordable expectations as a result of they see that one thing else has modified, which is the bar for getting star rankings for Medicare Benefit. These have elevated considerably, so many plans have misplaced a few of their star rankings, which is a monetary downside for them.

There may be lots of monetary strain on these plans that they haven't seen shortly. So I believe they're actually specializing in the place the worth lies. How can they save extra money to offset headwinds? And consequently, we're seeing them acknowledge the worth proposition somewhat extra and are available to the desk somewhat extra. That may assist the sector over the subsequent 24 months.

So maybe not merely modify a price for providers upwards, however relatively be prepared to enter right into a value- or risk-based association?

It's each. We're seeing total charges rise, however we're additionally seeing a better willingness to do value-based offers.

Lastly, are there any AI use circumstances you’re optimistic about in 2024?

I’d say the use circumstances are actually going to be round healthcare supplier productiveness, with documentation in all probability enjoying a key position.

In that, I see the recruitment angle of the way you deliver individuals in, actually parsing that and assembly the healthcare supplier the place they’re, and eradicating the friction once you be a part of a brand new firm.

I simply suppose this complete thought of ​​providing flexibility to the caregiver and eradicating what they see as non-value-added work is crucial software that I see coming to fruition.

So that you're fascinated about voice coding and documentation, planning options, automating referrals, and higher understanding the affected person you're going to see earlier than you really go to them. These are essentially the most promising use circumstances for my part.