With Medicare expected to cover a projected 80 million people by 2030, entrepreneurs and investors are cashing in on what analysts see as an inevitable shift in health care away from the hospital and into the homes of aging patients.
Incumbents like UnitedHealthcare Group are snapping up home health and hospice providers for billion-dollar price tags. And smaller startups are scoring tens of millions to build out the underlying logistical infrastructure, ranging from medical equipment delivery to digital medical devices that can transmit scans directly to doctors. Several large companies — including tech players like Amazon and health systems like Intermountain Healthcare — are jointly advocating for federal and state policies more conducive to home health.
As medical costs mount, health systems are pouncing on the opportunity to cut costs by shifting the site of care while also improving patient satisfaction and outcomes, Forrester senior analyst Natalie Schibell wrote in a note this week. Within the next decade, she predicted, “hospitals will perform invasive procedures and only treat intensive care patients and individuals that cannot possibly have home health care including those where home is not a safe place for care delivery.”
This article is exclusive to STAT+ subscribers
Unlock this article — and get additional analysis of the technologies disrupting health care — by subscribing to STAT+.
Already have an account? Log in
About the Author Reprints
To submit a correction request, please visit our Contact Us page.
