What Trends Will Cause Changes in Health Care Delivery?
Stephanie Anderson, national sales director of Housing and HealthCare Capital, speaker at this week’s RealShare Healthcare, talks to GlobeSt.com about the government, private pay sector and more top trends in healthcare real estate.
SCOTTSDALE, AZ–Healthcare should continue its strong growth over the foreseeable future driven by changes in the reimbursement methodology on both the government and private pay sector and by the new emphasis on population health. That is according to Stephanie Anderson, national sales director of Housing and HealthCare Capital.
Anderson recently chatted with GlobeSt.com in preparation for the upcoming RealShare Healthcare event here in Scottsdale, where she will join as a speaker in front of developers, owners, investors, brokers, and financiers who will convene to discuss the top trends in healthcare real estate.
“The baby boomers are approaching the age at which they will become the major clients of the healthcare system,” she tells GlobeSt.com. “They have very different expectations of quality of life and service than the ‘Greatest Generation’ that proceeds them.”
These trends, she says, will cause changes in the location, payment, demand, structure and targeting of health care delivery. There are a few trends that stand out today, she says, including: expansion of home health, the sharing economy, vertical integration up and down the acuity spectrum accompanied by the continued drive to understand population health, and the explosion of Managed Medicaid plans and Medicare Advantage.
“Younger seniors and lower income populations are embracing managed Medicaid plans and Medicare Advantage plans. These plans are increasingly attractive as the premiums continue to decline while providing coverage for dentistry and vision. The Managed care payors tend to increase their profits by limiting number of providers in their networks or by pure volume. In 2019 Medicare Advantage premiums will hit a 3 year low at $28 a month and the plans will cover over 36% of Medicare beneficiaries.”
The access to care these managed plans create, she says, has driving unprecedented growth and consolidation in dentistry, dialysis and vision. “The added benefit from managed Medicaid plans is that the expanded coverage is driving demand for healthcare services in more rural, lower income communities which in turn is driving employment and new development.”
So far this year, Anderson tells GlobeSt.com, the number of health systems opting into full bundled care options has grown exponentially. “Logically, as part of that shift, I expect more health systems will seek control of the healthcare vertical, moving us toward better delivery of services and true ‘population health’ goals. Control will be key.”
Earlier this year, she continued, four health systems banded together to create their own not-for-profit generic drug company to reduce surgical delays and to control price increases incurred from the shortage of certain generic-drugs. “While health systems entering into supply line control is rare, many are merging or partnering with other health systems, creating their own insurance companies and pushing into post-acute care through acquisitions of home health, rehab, hospice, skilled nursing, etc. This year we the Humana/Kindred, CVS/Aetna and ProMedica/Manorcare deals as well as many smaller ones. These successful health systems are controlling the front and back doors, investing in their payors as well as their post-acute networks in an attempt to manage the full cost of care.”
In looking across the landscape of patient care facilities today and into the future, she says, “it is clear that bundled care models are changing how health care is delivered.”
For more information on healthcare real estate news, join us at REALSHARE HEALTHCARE in SCOTTSDALE, AZ, from Dec 5-6, 2018. This event brings together the best and brightest in the healthcare CRE industry as developers, owners, investors, brokers, and financiers convene to discuss the top trends in healthcare real estate. This conference is powered by GlobeSt.com, the go-to-source for healthcare real estate news and analysis. To register for REALSHARE HEALTHCARE, please visit