Home health care providers in New Hampshire and Maine are praising a provision of the health care overhaul legislation that would enhance their efforts to keep elderly patients out of the hospital.
The provision, sponsored by Senators Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Susan Collins of Maine, would provide follow-up care for Medicare patients after they leave the hospital in hopes of preventing costly readmissions.
While many patients already receive such care now through a home health benefit, many others do not because they aren’t considered homebound. Mary Deveau, president of the Concord Regional Visiting Nurses Association, says expanding those services makes sense given the potential to both reduce costs and produce better outcomes.