WellSky’s Tim Ashe on the home as the ‘rational approach’ to care   

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – WellSky’s participation in Moving Health Home gives the company a seat at the table with big names like Amazon and Intermountain Healthcare as they work to change federal and state policy to make the home a “powerful” clinical site of care. 

Here’s what Tim Ashe, WellSky’s chief clinical officer, had to say about why it’s important for stakeholders with various viewpoints to unite behind home care as part of the “total solution” to the health care issues in this country. 

HME News: Why was WellSky interested in joining MHH? 

Tim Ashe: As a member of the coalition, we get a seat at the table as it determines legislative priorities. We get to participate in events, issue briefs and member summits. We’re going to be fully participating in their activities, adding our point of view and, importantly, learning from the points of view of others. 

HME: What is WellSky’s point of view? 

Ashe: We serve more than one in three home- and community-based providers, and our network connects more than 5 million caregivers. We’re going to act on behalf of those clients in advocating for home-based care. That’s a strong part of what we believe in. When you peel that back, our mission is empowering and positively impacting, ultimately, our clients and their patients who are receiving home-based care and ensuring there are levels and avenues for receiving that care. 

HME: You highlighted that this will also be a learning opportunity for WellSky. 

Ashe: As we learn more about the challenges other providers are facing, we can incorporate solutions into our service, technology and analytics that solve some of those challenges. That’s not the reason we joined, but it’s an important byproduct. 

HME: What’s keeping more care from happening in the home, especially in the wake of the pandemic, which made it not only a preference but also a necessity? 

Ashe: If you underlie what we learned during the pandemic with the rational approach to home care, which is that it lowers the cost of care and improves patient engagement and satisfaction and, as the research shows, results in just as good if not better quality, it’s an obvious move to make. 

HME: What’s the hold up? 

Ashe: Some of the challenges are the levers that we need to move legislatively and from a policy perspective to align with that rational approach. Care in the home should be delivered to more people, but it takes advocacy from a united voice. I don’t know that the barriers are anything greater than that. It takes time to work through the details and MHH is a good example of stakeholders who believe strongly that the home should be part of the solution coming together.