®
oundtable:
Healthcare trends The pandemic has accelerated advancements within the healthcare industry. While opportunities have been created, some issues remain prevalent.
David Baiada
CEO BAYADA Home Health Care
What is your assessment of home-based care cost structures? We are in a period of transition in terms of how healthcare payment works. The reality is that the vast majority of healthcare remains on a procedural or fee-for-service structure, despite people’s best intentions and the desire to evolve to the mechanisms that incentivize better quality at a lower cost and better experiences at a lower cost. The reality is that hospitals get paid when people receive procedures and we get paid when people get visited at home. We are still quite early into the journey of shifting the way incentives work, the way healthcare is paid for in a way that is going to create sustainable lower costs and better outcomes. What we are seeing is perhaps another innovation that has been catalyzed or accelerated during the pandemic, which is that we do think alignment across segments is going to happen faster. It already is. How would you characterize South Jersey’s medical talent pool? Labor’s inherent cycles of shortages are not new. We do think we have entered a period of permanent supply constraint where the demand for our services will continue to increase at a rate that is faster than the increase in supply. Unless something structural evolves, there is no reason to believe we’re going to move from the prevalent supplyconstrained environment. It is critical to address the issue because it places significant emphasis on how organizations like ours think about differentiation in the labor market — attraction and engagement, retention, development and training — and all the other things that help you adapt to reality and compete more effectively in the labor market. 122
| Invest: South Jersey 2021 | HEALTHCARE
Anthony DiFabio
President & CEO Acenda Integrated Health
What has been the impact of COVID on mental health? While the initial focus of the pandemic was on everyone’s physical health, one of the most significant legacies will be its widespread impact on mental health and the overall well-being of all community members. No matter how mentally fit we may have felt at the beginning, each of us has been challenged over the past year and a half by fear, isolation and disruption caused by COVID. Throughout the pandemic, Acenda ensured its clients had seamless access to care and additional supports. Simultaneously, we’ve seen an increase in the number of individuals experiencing significant emotional or psychological distress. Anxiety, depression and substance abuse have become more prevalent in our community. Realizing the growing need for support, we’ve focused on providing quality care for our current clients as well as expanding access to our care for families and individuals who previously thought they would never need help. How has the pandemic impacted demand for your services? In many instances, those introduced to our care are identified through teachers, coaches, mentors and other community members. In the face of COVID, some of our programs actually saw a reduction in enrollment, at least for a period of time, because those community referral systems were not active. For example, at the beginning our child welfare services declined because COVID shut down schools, sports and neighborhood gathering places which disrupted our access to clients. We’ve seen this bounce back through hybrid models and a reopening of in-person activities.
