Humana Plans to Acquire Value-Based Home Healthcare Partner

Humana has announced its plan to acquire One Homecare Solutions (onehome) from WayPoint Capital Partners in order to expand value-based care in home healthcare services.

The acquisition accompanies Humana’s recent agreement to fully acquire Kindred at Home.

“At Humana, we are implementing a strategy to build a new value-based home health model that will improve patient outcomes, increase satisfaction for patients and providers, and provide greater value for health plan partners,” said Susan Diamond, segment president for Humana’s Home Business and interim chief financial officer of Humana.

“The acquisition of onehome is a key component of that strategy. It complements our recent announcement to fully acquire and integrate Kindred at Home, and brings together additional capabilities that will allow Humana to deliver value-based home health at a national scale.”

onehome uses a value-based care model to provide consumers with at-home healthcare services. The company has offered its services to Humana members since 2015. Integrating this solution into Humana’s model could streamline home healthcare to meet both patient and provider needs.

The model oversees post-acute, at-home services including infusion care, nursing, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. onehome also offers durable medical equipment services and can assist with site of care placements through its skilled nursing facility at home programs, according to the press release.

“By combining onehome’s value-based approach with Kindred’s home health services and Humana’s analytical capabilities and clinical expertise, we believe we can create a transformational value-based offering to serve more people, including non-Humana plan members, nationwide,” Diamond added.

The partnership will provide Humana with new information and skills to expand its value-based home healthcare model to even more members.

onehome’s experience with risk-based contracting and its current value-based models in Florida and Texas can help the payer expand its model to reach more members in different states.

The solution’s ownership of durable medical equipment could make it easier for Humana members and providers to access these services and experience better health outcomes.

Humana will also gain access to the solution’s utilization management systems that can help improve administrative tasks when it comes to at-home healthcare visits.

“We built the onehome model with a focus on integrating all key home-based patient care delivery needs with risk-taking capabilities and robust technology,” said Ramon Falero, chief executive officer and co-founder of onehome.

“We have had the privilege of serving millions of patients with this model – the need for which has only increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are honored to now have the opportunity to expand our model as part of the Humana team, with whom we share the mission of bringing healing home.”

The partners did not share the financial details of the acquisition, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.

Past studies have shown that home healthcare, along with remote patient monitoring, can improve care quality and lower costs. Receiving certain care services at home as opposed to the hospital can significantly lower healthcare spending. Home healthcare can also be more convenient for some patients, which in turn could improve the patient experience.

Humana’s acquisition of onehome is just one of the steps that the payer is taking to expand value-based care.

Earlier this month, Humana’s senior primary care provider CenterWell expanded its Medicare Advantage value-based care model to cover Original Medicare members as well. CenterWell’s Direct Contracting Model ensures that provider reimbursement depends upon the quality of care that the provider offers.

In April, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) launched a value-based care agreement for members who have chronic kidney disease or end stage kidney disease. Part of the agreement included providing patients with home-based or center-based dialysis along with other services that prevent hospitalization.

Another goal of the agreement was to provide members with more information about chronic kidney disease through community-based efforts using in-person and virtual channels.