As Americans age—in particular Baby Boomers—there is a corresponding rise in home healthcare, fueled by a growing desire for convenience as well as many seniors’ desire to age in place. Before and especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, people got used to home deliveries of everything from paper goods to groceries to first aid supplies. Amazon, GrubHub, Uber, Instacart, and their ilk have spawned a burgeoning demand for quick and easy online purchases and delivery options.
The global healthcare market was valued at $301.09 billion in 2021 and is anticipated to reach a value of $813.17 billion by 2028. According to the National Association for Home Care and Hospice, close to 12 million Americans receive some kind of home healthcare each year, and that number is expected to continue to grow.
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In the healthcare arena, this trend is evidenced by the closing of the deal that will bring One Medical, a primary care organization, into the fold of Amazon. CVS Health too is homeward bound. Its $8 billion purchase of Signify Health in September. Signify Health offers health risk assessments, value-based care, and support to healthcare providers, and as CVS president/CEO Karen S. Lynch said in a news release, will “play a critical role in advancing our health care services strategy and gives us a platform to accelerate our growth in value-based care,” while enhancing CVS’s “connection to consumers in the home.”
In short, Lynch said, it will enable her organization to “execute our vision to redefine the healthcare experience.”
This transaction came on the heels of the August 2022 majority share acquisition of CareCentrix, Inc. by Walgreens Boots Alliance. CareCentrix is a leading independent home healthcare company, supplementing Walgreens’ ability to deliver quality healthcare, including specialty pharmacy care, post-acute care, and home care.
In May last year, Kaiser Permanente and the Mayo Clinic announced that they will invest $100 million into Medically Home, a company that provides a remote patient monitoring platform for those aging in place.
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A post on Forbes.com refers to this surge of acquisitions in the global home healthcare market as a home healthcare technology “arms race.” In addition to the glut of mergers, KFF reported last August that nearly half of eligible U.S. healthcare beneficiaries are currently enrolled in Medicare Advantage programs, pointing to a trend toward the majority of healthcare spending going to private firms. McKnight’s Business Daily cited Altarum’s Health Sector Economic Indicators, which showed nursing home care spending has increased by 10.2 percent year over year. Home healthcare has grown by 10.5 percent, which is over double the overall national health spending rate of 4.9 percent.
Corwin Rhyan, research director of Health Economics and Policy at Altarum, told McKnight’s that these statistics reflect “a pretty significant recovery” from pandemic declines.
“We are definitely seeing more growth among these two basic categories over the mid-2022 period,” he added. “The last three or four months is when we really started to see accelerations in those settings.”
Analysts who follow the home healthcare market believe that companies should accelerate their product development, especially given the ever-increasing demand. Some 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 every single day, meaning that by 2030, 73.1 million Americans – 21 percent of the population – will be seniors. Moreover, that percentage is only expected to continue to increase thereafter.
A 2021 AARP survey revealed that 75 percent of Americans over age 50 would prefer to age in place, largely out of a desire for independence, autonomy and familiarity. It is not a cliche to say that home is where the heart is; that is based in fact. That is the place with which people identify. They cling to the connections they have. It gives them a sense of community.
Certainly, though, there are challenges to having that many older Americans out on their own. There is the question of safety. There is the question of support. There is the danger of social isolation, which some experts believe is as hazardous to one’s health as smoking.
We saw during the pandemic how communications platforms like Zoom, Facetime and Skype can go a long way to keeping people connected, and seniors have come to embrace the technology. A 2021 AARP survey showed that over 80 percent of them rely on gadgetry to connect with loved ones, a percentage that is consistent with all other age groups.
Safety is also a huge matter, given that falls are the leading cause of accidental death among seniors in the U.S. That’s where remote patient monitoring systems come into play, as do wearables and smart watches.
In regards to support – particularly as it pertains to healthcare – telehealth emerged as a vital tool during the pandemic, and is expected to remain so. A $19 million plan to improve such services in underserved communities was introduced in 2021 by the Biden Administration, and other federal measures are on the horizon.
Recent events would suggest that the private sector is no less inclined to meet the challenge of providing high-quality, convenient medical services to seniors as they age in place. And the challenge figures to be a considerable one, given that we are not getting any younger as a nation. There will be other technologies, and indeed there will need to be, as the issue increases in scope.
Melissa Powell is the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Genesis HealthCare. She was previously president and chief operating officer of The Allure Group, a New York City-based nursing home operator. Melissa has 20 years of experience coordinating, assessing and improving senior care utilizing a market-focused model in New Jersey and New York.
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