Post-acute data analytics firm Home Care Pulse has purchased the Home Care Institute, which offers education and training for hospice and home health care staff. Financial terms of the transaction were undisclosed.
Home Care Institute has developed more than 500 online courses, job aids, accredited content and tools designed to educate hospice and home care staff on regulatory compliance and other professional development topics.
“By acquiring Home Care Institute, Home Care Pulse becomes a full-service training hub, offering 800+ education hours for post-acute care organizations,” said Erik Madsen, CEO of Home Care Pulse. “Our mission has always been to provide agencies with the tools needed to improve and enhance their business.”
The two companies will spend the next several months integrating their educational platforms to create a comprehensive training solution for clinicians, aides, other professionals and family caregivers,
The range of courses that support orientation, compliance training, and ongoing education on topics ranging from disease management to OASIS and patient-driven groupings model training for home health, to leadership development, Medicare skilled services and sales training. The company is also planning a scholarship program for hospice and home health clinicians in honor of Home Care Institute Founder Lu Post. The program is designed to help hospice and home health staff pursue advanced clinical education.
Opportunities to pursue continuing education can contribute to the development of a career path that leads to professional advancement, boosting recruitment, improving retention and reducing turnover.
The hospice and palliative care workforce has been shrinking in recent years due to staff retirement, burnout and limited opportunities for specialty training.
Hospice leaders identified staffing shortages as their top concern moving into 2020 on a Hospice News survey in collaboration with Dallas-based tech company Homecare Homebase. More than 26% of 300 respondents anticipated staffing as their greatest challenge, outweighing concerns over increased competition in the hospice space and new payment models.
Shortages are expected to worsen during the next 25 years, with research indicating that supply of a hospice and palliative care specialized workforce will be exceeded by demand of a growing aging patient population.
“Home Care Institute has always been committed to leveraging technology to support the needs of the home health and hospice industry,” said Home Care Institute Co-Founder and CEO Mickey Post “As part of Home Care Pulse, we can amplify the impact of Home Care Institute’s rich training library.”
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