Alliance Announces Funding for New Home Health Care Research with Johns Hopkins University

The research grant awarded to Dr. Cynthia Boyd, Dr. Bruce Leff, and Dr. Orla Sheehan will look at the function and role of the current home health plan of care

ARLINGTON — As part of its commitment to promoting home health care research, the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation (AHHQI) announced Monday a $100,000 grant awarded to researchers from Johns Hopkins University for a study titled, “Communication and Care Coordination Between Home Health Care Agencies and Clinicians with Providers Who Order and Certify Home Health Care Services.” The study builds off work done by Boyd, et al over the last few years.

Research will utilize a series of qualitative interviews with home health agency administrators, clinical directors, and clinicians in the field, as well as a national survey, to ultimately design a clinical trial that explores the issues of communication and care coordination between home health care agencies and clinicians who certify home health care services.

“The Alliance is pleased to announce funding for Drs. Boyd, Leff, and Sheehan and their critical work examining the issues related to communications and care coordination between home health care providers and clinicians who order and certify home health care services,” said Donald Stelly, Chairman of the Alliance’s Board of Directors. “This work will be integral in promoting better tools for communication between members of the care team, and ultimately improving care coordination in home health care. Their work is in keeping with the spirit of the Alliance and its mission of leading and supporting research efforts on the value of home health care, as well as the framework laid out in the Future of Home Health Care Project.”

“We have previously studied communication from the physician’s point of view,” says Bruce Leff, M.D., director, Center for Transformative Geriatric Research. “This grant will allow us to further our research and help us understand communication and care coordination issues from the home health care provider’s point of view and, ultimately, develop better approaches to care.”

The announcement of this funding is just the first step in the Alliance’s continued commitment to furthering and supporting fundamental research for the future of home health care. In December 2017, the Alliance opened up a public request for proposals for additional funded research. Research will focus on one or more of the five areas of importance identified in, “The Future of Home Health Care: A Strategic Framework for Optimizing Value” published in 2016. Those areas include: payment and delivery reform, patient and person-centered care, technology, home health workforce, clinical innovation. Awards for this year’s funding will be announced in the coming months.

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The Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation (the Alliance) is comprised of leaders in the home health care community — including several of the largest home health care providers in the United States and the largest national trade association representing home health care providers. The mission of the Alliance is to foster research and education on the value of home health care to patients and the overall U.S. health care system. The Alliance is dedicated to improving the nation’s health care system through development of high quality and innovative solutions aimed at achieving optimal clinical outcomes. To learn more, visit www.ahhqi.org.