In early March, Louisville, Ky.-based Baptist Health embarked on a joint venture with Kettering, Ohio-based Alternate Solutions Health Network to expand Baptist’s hospital at home services.
Rick Carrico, CFO of Baptist Health, said during a Becker’s CFO+Revenue Cycle Podcast episode that the partnership aligns with the broader efficiency and high-quality care goals for the system, leaning on advanced technologies to ensure timely responses and interventions through monitoring patients at home.
“We feel like the extending of post-acute services is a natural lane for us to be in,” Mr. Caricco said. “We appreciate the fact that we can find a partner to help us navigate some of the key opportunities there and the challenges.”
The venture is owned jointly by both parties and operates under Baptist Health Home Care, with services that span Kentucky, southern Indiana and southern Illinois.
Mr. Carrico spent time in the long-term care industry early in his career. With continued demand for home-based care options, Baptist Health’s latest partnership points to a more cost-effective and patient-centered healthcare solution.
“We feel responsibility for those patients as they return home and want to make sure that we’ve got some control and influence over the quality and setting of that care,” he said.
As technology in healthcare continues to refine and evolve, Mr. Carrico said at-home patient monitoring capabilities are key to ensuring the right path to recovery for patients.
“It also gives us the opportunity to intervene,” he said. “If they [the patient] have an episode that takes them back into an acute state, we can get to them much faster. I think technology monitoring is going to be very important for that to be expandable and scalable.”
