Building on two previous phases of an ongoing initiative to advance home-based primary care in the U.S., The John A. Hartford Foundation (JAHF) has launched Moving and Scaling Home-Based Primary Care Phase III: Quality, Training, Advocacy, and Policy. This most recent grant phase supports JAHF’s overall mission of creating age-friendly health systems and represents the collaborative efforts of four organizations, most recently adding a focus on policy as a lever to promote home-based primary care:

• The National Home-Based Primary Care Learning Network, led by Dr. Christine Ritchie at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and Dr. Bruce Leff at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, expanded to more than 80 practices in November 2023. The Learning Network practices collectively provide care to over 96,000 patients across the country. According to one Learning Network member, “Participating in this project made us realize that it is best to start with a small test of change, and not try to boil the ocean all at once.” In addition to these efforts, the Learning Network is conducting research to better understand the barriers and facilitators to quality improvement work in home-based primary care (HBPC).

• The Home Centered Care Institute (HCCI) continues to educate the workforce of clinical providers, operations staff, and practice leaders using a portfolio of age-friendly HBPC curriculum. Home-based practices benefit from HCCI’s education and technical assistance offerings, consulting services, and business intelligence and data analytics services, including through its new Confer Analytics™ platform. Plus, HCCI’s Illinois House Call Project is positioned to exceed its first cohort goal of making HBPC accessible to 3,000 new patients and is now launching its second cohort. In addition, HCCI provided a Crossroads of Care series for hospice and palliative care programs. “We are excited to be continuing to partner with our fellow co-grantees in growing the field of home-based primary care. With the shift to value-based care now gaining momentum, growing a workforce of qualified HBPC providers and interdisciplinary teams is more important than ever,” said Melissa Singleton, Chief Programs Officer for HCCI.

• The American Academy of Home Care Medicine (AAHCM) is actively improving its national practice directory, the House Call Finder, with a dedicated focus on data enhancement. AAHCM’s ongoing efforts involve reaching out to practices and gathering essential data from directory users. The Academy is committed to establishing a data-driven model for directory usage, with tailored dissemination strategies, to effectively communicate information about house call and home care services to the public.

• The Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy is the newest addition to this initiative and develops evidence-based policy recommendations to ensure older adults, homebound, and home-limited populations have access to comprehensive, coordinated, longitudinal care in the home. This year, Duke-Margolis hosted two workshops with key HBPC stakeholders, including federal and state policymakers, payers, providers, and health care experts, to explore practical ideas for making payment and delivery models amenable to providers and the communities they serve. The Institute also released an analysis on opportunities to scale home-based primary care in rural communities and held a public webinar on the topic with key senior policymakers and health care leaders. “We’re excited to be part of this project and believe bi-directional learnings between key policymakers and frontline providers will translate into making home-based primary care more accessible in the communities that need it,” said Jonathan Gonzalez-Smith, Assistant Research Director at Duke-Margolis.

“This next phase of the work to expand access to home-based primary care is very exciting and builds on the excellent collaboration between the National Home-Based Primary Care Learning Network, Home Centered Care Institute, and American Academy of Home Care Medicine,” said Scott Bane, JD, MPA, Senior Program Officer at The John A. Hartford Foundation. “The addition of the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy to the group is helping to ensure that policymakers are aware of these impressive gains so that older adults who are home-bound or home-limited have access to high-quality, age-friendly health care.”

About The John A. Hartford Foundation

The John A. Hartford Foundation, based in New York City, is a private, nonpartisan, national philanthropy dedicated to improving the care of older adults. The leader in the field of aging and health, the Foundation has three priority areas: creating age-friendly health systems, supporting family caregivers, and improving serious illness and end-of-life care. For more information visit www.johnahartford.org and follow @johnahartford.