What is the Future of Pediatric Home Care?

Pediatric home care has seen a lot of growth over the past couple of years due to advancements in technology, new research, and more of a focus on patient-centric care. Here are four trends that will shape the future of pediatric home care.  

Rise in Specialized Care Programs 

Home healthcare is growing annually, with a projected national average growth rate of spending on home healthcare to increase by 7.1% between 2025 and 2026. There is a rise in the prevalence of chronic diseases among children, requiring more of a need for pediatric nurses to provide specialized and personalized in-home healthcare services. These specialized services include palliative care (addressing physical, emotional, and psychological needs) and mental health support (addressing emotional and psychological needs). Palliative care often incorporates holistic practices to help improve the patient’s quality of life while mental health support uses evidence-based therapies, cognitive-behavioral techniques, and family counseling to help patients.   

More Use of Artificial Intelligence 

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes more popular across all industries, it can also be used in pediatric home care. AI uses anonymous and open-source medical information and data to help offer more insights into health diagnoses, procedures, treatments, and general wellness strategies. While AI can be a tool to help Pediatric Home Care Nurses quickly find new information, it is not meant to replace education and training. It is meant to assist in knowledge-gathering so nurses can spend more time providing direct patient care.  

New Regulations and Policy Revisions

On November 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the Calendar Year Final Rule for Home Health Agencies (HHAs). This rule included many updates and revisions that could make a significant impact on home health care agencies and Pediatric Home Care Nurses. The new regulations and revisions include the following:

• Payment rate updates to 30-day period payments and national per-visit amounts with estimated overall spending on HHA to increase by 0.5% (approximately $85 million).
• Increase in the payment rate for patients with primary immune deficiency disease when they meet the criteria for medical necessity for treatment with intravenous immune globulin.
• Revised Conditions of Participation require agencies to conduct annual reviews of staffing levels, staff competencies, case mix, and current caseloads.
• Agencies must provide greater transparency to the public and disclose accurate information about their services, including specialty care options.
• Modifications to OASIS, adding vaccination status for COVID-19, removing items related to episode timing, therapy need, and discharge goals.

Focus on Family-Centered Care

Pediatric Home Care Nurses should create a positive family-centered care environment by understanding and valuing the families’ expertise and engaging in empathetic listening. When nurses build strong partnerships with families, both can gain more insight into a child’s daily needs and routines, allowing everyone to provide even more effective care. 

As pediatric home care evolves, nurses will continue to be at the forefront of providing personalized care for children. At Thrive SPC, we will continue to adapt and shift to changes while staying committed to providing high-quality home care to medically fragile children.