Consumers, Coalitions are Driving the Push to Bring Health Care Services to the Home

In this series, Health Evolution is examining the year 2021 in health care through the lens of our eight imperatives. We will be examining the trends that were at the top of CEOs’ minds throughout the past year and what may come in 2022. Amid the funding craze in digital health, there is an arms race happening within home-based health care as major payers, providers, retail giants, health IT companies, and other organizations work to broaden their offerings in the burgeoning space. 

Take for instance, CVS Health. At the annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, CVS Health CEO Karen Lynch said that said that the company will “expand our home health services capabilities that we offer in the marketplace using a model that integrates health programs for complex populations.” Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group COO Dirk McMahon recently said on an earnings call that “home-based clinical care initiatives at Optum and UnitedHealthcare are central to improving near- and longer-term health outcomes for people with medical, behavioral and social need.” 

As another example, Humana has strategically grown its Medicare Advantage plan offerings, which often rely on home-based health care services to lower costs and improve outcomes in value-based arrangements. In 2021, it acquired one of the largest home-based health services companies in the country, Kindred at Home, for $8.1 billion. It has also made strategic partnerships with numerous companies in the home-based health care space such as DispatchHealth and Papa. In the retail world, Best Buy Health acquired Current Health, which provides a care at home platform that combines remote patient monitoring, telehealth and patient engagement for providers.