Direction Home Ohio

26/08/2023

"A common arrangement is for Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) to operate CTI programs and receive referrals from hospitals or health plans. Some AAAs have contracts with hospitals or health plans that pay for the work of the Transitions Coach, while others receive funding through the Older Americans Act or foundation grants. In addition, some health plans, home health agencies, community-based organizations, and educational institutions employ their own Transitions Coaches to serve patients or members."

Highlights the Care Transitions Intervention (CTI), an evidence-based, short-term model that helps prevent unnecessary hospital readmissions and emergency department visits and reduce unnecessary spending.

29/09/2022

Ohio's Area Agencies on Aging have a number of services to offer health care systems and payers.

Did you know 50 percent of Area Agencies on Aging that contract with health care entities provide a variety of social services for older adults? Read more about the benefits of contracting in a new infographic from our Aging and Disability Business Institute: bit.ly/3S1eqz4.

26/07/2022

Read two new infographics that explore how Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) and other community-based organizations (CBOs) address the social determinants of health of older adults and people with disabilities in their communities through contracts with health care entities.

07/05/2022

"Three common characteristics emerged that describe the organizational culture of AAAs with a high number of health care partners:

Attention to external environments;
Openness to innovation and change; and
Risk taking to learn, improve, and grow."

https://www.bettercareplaybook.org/_blog/2022/4/supporting-older-adults-social-needs-through-partnerships-between-area-agencies-aging

New research sheds light on the strategies Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) use to create and maintain partnerships with health care entities.

19/03/2022

"Area Agencies on Aging and other aging network service providers can help to achieve Triple Aim goals by adding value in managing chronic conditions; activating patients and families; reducing hospital readmissions; avoiding long-term institutionalization; and helping people continue living in the community where they overwhelmingly prefer to be. The trend toward integration presents unique opportunities for AAAs ... to contract with healthcare entities seeking to address the health-related social needs of the people whom they serve."

Why AAAs are busy contracting with community-based organizations, and how it's paying off.

08/04/2021

The Aging and Disability Business Institute is excited to have a new journal article posted in Society of Certified Senior Advisors' CSA Journal. Read the article to learn how collaborations between health care entities and aging and disability CBOs can help meet the needs of a growing population of older adults now and in the future. http://ow.ly/RzEO50EhXwr

22/03/2021

Explores findings from the AAA National Survey conducted by n4a and Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University, which shed light on the wide range of needs that AAAs address in their communities, as well as the expertise their staff bring to meet those needs.

15/01/2021

This is what we do in a variety of settings.

"Connecting older adults with social services through the healthcare delivery system may lead to decreases in hospitalizations, ED visits, and observation stays. Implementation of cross-sector partnerships that address non-clinical factors that impact the health of older adults may reduce the use of costly healthcare services."

Authors Elisa M. Fisher Kelley Akiya Annie Wells Yan Li Christine Peck José A.Pagán Source Preventive Medicine https://www.journals.elsevier.com/preventive-medicine Peer-Reviewed Article November 2020 Headline Community Care Connections, a program assisting older adults with complex needs in navig...

04/12/2020

"So leveraging community partners is key to social determinants of health strategies. Working with community partners, providers have increased awareness of the community’s resources and can refer patients to helpful services."

https://patientengagementhit.com/news/broad-social-determinants-of-health-approaches-focus-on-community

Provider organizations are targeting all social determinants of health and working with community partners to address these challenges, recent work from Insights by Xtelligent Healthcare Media showed.

03/12/2020

"The updates made in this final rule also clarify that MA plans can seek partnerships with CBOs to provide SSBCI and health-related benefits under the broader definition....These rule changes are important because they open the door even wider for MA plans to contract with aging and disability CBOs to deliver services that are part of SSBCI and health-related supplemental benefits that can improve health outcomes and quality of life for plan members."

https://www.aginganddisabilitybusinessinstitute.org/changes-to-medicare-advantage-reinforce-the-role-of-cbos-in-supplemental-benefits/

A final rule published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) earlier this year has implications for aging and disability community-based organizations (CBOs) seeking and engaging in contract work with Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. The new rule aligns existing regulation with a serie...

02/12/2020

02/12/2020

With years of expertise in delivering home and community based services addressing the social determinants of health for older adults and people with disabilities, Ohio's Area Agencies on Aging are well positioned to deliver Medicare Advantage Special Supplemental Benefits for Individuals with Chronic Illness.

Find out more about Medicare Advantage SSBCI:https://bipartisanpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/BPC-One-Pager-Final.pdf

18/10/2020

"Of the 738 plans operating in the primarily health-related MA pathway in 2021, 430 are offering “in-home support services...."

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) last month released new Medicare Advantage (MA) figures highlighting a massive expansion of plans offering home-focused supplemental benefits in 2021. The agency shared additional data on Wednesday — and it now appears the ongoing home care M...

20/04/2020

Direction Home Ohio's network of Area Agencies on Aging have partnerships with many health systems and health plans in Ohio to address the social determinants of health for a variety of populations.

Health Affairs Blog Related Topics: Health care providers Systems of care Organization of care Resource-based relative value scale Home care Chronic disease Addressing Social Determinants: Scaling Up Partnerships With Community-Based Organization Networks Lance Robertson Bruce Chernof February 24, 2...

05/03/2020

Ohio's Area Agency on Aging network is well-positioned through Direction Home Ohio to work with health plans and health systems to leverage local and regional resources to address the social determinants of health members across the state.

"CBOs are well-positioned and uniquely skilled to act as the hubs that curate and manage networks of community service providers, given their expertise in service navigation and their existing relationships in their communities. In fact, a recent study found that AAAs (one type of CBO), are consistently the most centrally positioned organization in a network, leading the authors to conclude that "as policy makers and health care managers engage in efforts to foster cross-sector partnerships, the AAAs could be leveraged as brokers."

Health Affairs Blog Related Topics: Health care providers Systems of care Organization of care Resource-based relative value scale Home care Chronic disease Addressing Social Determinants: Scaling Up Partnerships With Community-Based Organization Networks Lance Robertson Bruce Chernof February 24, 2...

28/01/2020

"There is often a disconnect between the worlds of health care and social services, with each sometimes having different goals, different terminology and different ways of being paid.

But individuals and their families fare better when all of their health needs and preferences are being taken into account, and where older people overwhelmingly prefer to have their health needs met and services provided is in their homes and the communities in which they live.

This, along with the need to drive health care utilization and costs down, has led to a movement toward coordination and integration of health care and social services (or long-term services and supports). This movement is increasingly supported by policy such as the new flexibility afforded to Medicare Advantage plans."

County governments play a lead role in meeting the health and human services of all of their citizens, especially the most vulnerable.

08/01/2020

The new focus on supplemental benefits in Medicare Advantage to meet medical AND social needs is very much needed. Social determinants of health are a significant factor in healthy aging outcomes.

"Approximately one in three Medicare beneficiaries is enrolled in a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan, and more than one third of these MA enrollees are classified as high need based on their chronic conditions, age, and level of functional impairment. These high-need MA enrollees are more likely to have low incomes, live in disadvantaged neighborhoods, and report risk factors for social isolation – all contributing to a greater likelihood of poor health outcomes."

Authors Eva H. Dugoff William Buckingham Amy J. H. Kind Sandra Chao Gerard F. Anderson Source The Commonwealth Fund https://www.commonwealthfund.org/ Brief February 2019 Approximately one in three Medicare beneficiaries is enrolled in a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan, and more than one third of these....

13/12/2019

A study conducted by Stanford University and AARP Public Policy Institute found that a lack of social contacts among older adults is associated with an estimated $6.7 billion in Medicare spending annually.

Social isolation is a Social Determinant of Health, and Direction Home Ohio’s network of Area Agencies on Aging have been boots on the ground addressing the issue for over 30 years. We have a variety of services that have the effect of promoting connection and engagement to improve healthy aging outcomes and reduce costs.

July is Social Isolation Month at AARP. This month, we are calling attention to the millions of older adults across the nation who lack meaningful social contacts with family members, friends or neighbors. Why the focus on isolation? Because social isolation is associated with bad health…