CommonSpirit Health at Home is heavily focused on hospice growth, though the company had to pivot its strategy when the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented its six-month enrollment moratorium.
This is because the strategy was largely focused on de novos, which cannot move forward under the moratorium, Trisha Crissman, CommonSpirit Health at Home’s CEO, told Hospice News sister site Home Health Care News. The company’s five-year growth strategy is founded on three pillars: geographical expansion, boosting its market share and engaging patients farther upstream.
“A lot of the five-year growth strategy has been halted because it’s been dominantly de novo-driven and heavily hospice-focused,” Crissman said. “However, with the current moratorium in place, we’ve had to re-evaluate opportunities for our growth and expansion until that is lifted. We’ve pivoted. We’ve put on hold some components, but we identified several key growth strategies enabling us to continue to serve more patients in the markets where we already exist.”
Crissman has served as president and CEO of CommonSpirit Health at Home since September 2024, following her appointment as interim president in 2023. Previously, she served as vice president and chief operating officer of CommonSpirit’s home health and hospice division.
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, CommonSpirit Health at Home is the home-based care division of Catholic healthcare system CommonSpirit Health. The organization provides home health, hospice, palliative care and home infusion services to more than 16,000 patients across 15 states.
Among the home health and hospice provider’s priorities is expanding its geographical footprint and increasing market share. That will align with CommonSpirit Health’s coverage and service where they need us to serve our hospital partners, including 15 with which the company has joint ventures, Crissman said.
CommonSpirit Health at Home is also establishing systems to proactively identify eligibility and transition pathways into home health, hospice and palliative care in alignment with specialty clinics with primary care providers.
“We’ll help physicians and practitioners understand and identify eligibility for services earlier and engaging patients with the right level of care at the right time before the next acute exacerbation takes place,” Crissman said. “This will be particularly powerful for those who may be eligible for hospice when maybe physicians and practitioners possibly have not had advanced goals-of-care conversations with them and what their hopes and wishes are at the end of life.”
Each of these initiatives is infused with technology. The company is also leveraging tech to become more efficient and reduce the administrative burden on staff, through ambient scribing and other systems. CommonSpirit Health at Home is deploying AI and some digital capabilities to enhance clinician engagement, expand clinical capacity and optimize patient navigation, according to Crissman.
The company is poised to resume its de novo strategy when the moratorium ends, which is currently scheduled for Nov 13. However, CMS has the option to extend it.
“We’ll pick up the de novo expansion once we hear that CMS lifts the freeze, which will have Health at Home adding about an additional 23 locations through fiscal [year] 2032 in key markets that will support the care continuing for CommonSpirit Health as a whole,” Crissman said.
Home Health Care News Senior Editor Morgan Gonzales contributed to this report.
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