Volume 10, Number 33 — June  23, 2021

Dear Healthcare at Home Colleague,

In our continuing quest to find solutions to your primary challenge, staffing, we offer two pieces of good news in this week's issue. I urge you to pay close attention to both of them, one of which will require a small investment, the other which will pay you and your staff to participate.

What you need to do to deal with your staffing challenge is address both recruiting and retention, which are inextricably linked. Our first solution is to pay more than what unemployment pays, and we found something that will help until the federal unemployment supplements expire. Please direct your attention first to this week's lead item, "HHS Awards $125 Million in Workforce Grants to Bolster Vaccinations." We put you in touch with a national association that won one of these grants and is using it to pay home health and home care providers, clinicians, caregivers, and patients every time one of their patients gets a COVID shot. What does this have to do with recruiting and retention? Think about the power of word of mouth. If you participate, word will get around about your significant bonuses and you may start seeing more applicants. If nothing else, your agency and your people can bring in some well-needed cash.

If staffing has you puzzled, maybe an outside expert is the answer. If so, take a close look at this week's entry from guest author and healthcare recruiting veteran Szilvia Toth. She explains, out of her decade of experience, what works and what does not in your efforts to fill your open positions with competent, dedicated people. Read about the importance of branding, reputation, communication, and data.

Care Coordination: Darcey Trescone interviewed FirstLight Home Care and communications technology vendor Dina this week and brings her insights into their joint effort to improve patient outcomes and reduce hospital readmissions. Click on Darcey's article below.

Vendor Watch: Quite a lot of vendor news this week. AlayaCare has raised another round of funding, this time $225 million. Health Recovery Solutions announced a $70 million investment in its remote patient monitoring company. eCaring™ acquired Home Care IT™. Homecare Homebase named Swift Medical as its preferred wound care technology partner. And home care veteran Brad Caldwell has been named COO for Careficient.

CMS News: Two announcements this week were worth reprinting for you from notices we received. One is the official statement regarding the Supreme Court's recent 7-2 decision in support of the Affordable Care Act. The other is their update on the record number of Americans enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.

Upcoming: As we have been telling you, I ame attending Homecare 100 this week, so our next issue will be dated July 7. In the meantime, we will be posting frequent, brief video updates on our Facebook page. Go to facebook.com/homecaretech and 'like' us. Then return from time to time, Monday through Wednesday, to see if we have captured important technology news for you. 

Let me take one more line to renew my gratitude to our sponsors. These companies make it possible for us to bring you this free service. Show your appreciation by clicking on their graphic ads. They may be offering just what you are looking for.

Have a great week. Keep making a difference!

HHS Awards $125 Million in Workforce Grants to Bolster Vaccinations
Home Care, Home Health agencies encouraging COVID vaccinations to receive payments from grantee.

Winning the War for Workers Against the Odds
Guest author and healthcare recruiting consultant Szilvia Toth explains how the right technology can be a game-changer for a home care and home health agency's recruiting and retention challenges.

FirstLight Home Care Partners with Dina in Care Coordination
Leading national non-medical home care provider to implement care coordination tool.

CMS Statement on SCOTUS June 16 ACA Decision
Official statement from CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure on U.S. Supreme Court decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act in California v. Texas.

AlayaCare Raises $225 Million
CAD Series D funding "to accelerate digital transformation of Home Health Care."

CMS News: Record Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment
During the 12-month period that includes the onset of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP exceeded 80 million.

Vendor Watch
— eCaring™ acquires Home Care IT™
— Homecare Homebase names preferred wound care technology partner
— Careficient names Brad Caldwell COO
— HRS lands $70 million investment.