Post-acute care has been shaped these past years by by workforce shortages, evolving regulatory and payment models, and growing expectations around patient experience. Provider organizations now face a critical inflection point. The decisions leaders make in the next 12 months will materially affect quality care, organizational growth, staff experience, and financial stability for years to come.

Questions Leaders Should Be Asking

As you begin planning for 2026, here are strategic questions, metrics, and foundational programs worth evaluating now.

1. Are we prepared for next-generation outcomes measurement?

Value Based Care payment standards will be created based on the metrics organizations are posting now. As we move toward payment updates in home health and potential VBP in hospice, it is essential that providers are making care plans based on appropriate utilization and quality care.

Ask yourself:

• How quickly are we responding to symptom-related calls?
• Do we have documentation workflows that surface timely follow-ups?
• Can we demonstrate continuity between after-hours and next-day care?

Measure now:

• Average speed-to-nurse
• First-call resolution rates
• Documentation turnaround time
• Escalation loops / missed follow-ups

Organizations that build visibility into performance will be positioned to outperform their competitors.

Are Our Workforce Strategies Built for Long-Term Sustainability?

Nurse burnout is structural. (See recent post: Beyond Burnout: Rethinking Solutions in Hospice Care Challenges)

Ask yourself:

• How are we protecting nurse recovery time?
• Are on-call responsibilities driving turnover?
• Do we understand the cost of attrition vs. support services?

Foundation to explore:

• Nurse recovery scheduling
• After-hours triage partnerships
• Workload redistribution models
• Cross-training for predictable peaks

Measure now:

• Time-to-burnout indicators (PTO deferrals, weekend load)
• Recruitment cycle costs
• Retention vs. exit trends

Workforce sustainability is a competitive advantage.

Does Our Operational Infrastructure Scale?

Growth is only good if the experience doesn’t worsen.

Ask yourself:

• If census increased 40% tomorrow, what would break first?
• Can our documentation, triage, and communication loops double?
• Do we have a proactive plan for streamlining care coordination?

Evaluate:

• Call volume elasticity
• IT interoperability maturity
• Workflow redundancy
• Care coordination handoffs

Scalable operations protect dignity at scale.

Are We Investing in Interoperability (Not Just Integration)?

Integration moves data.
Interoperability moves clinical confidence.

Ask yourself:

• Can after-hours nurses access real-time medication history?
• Are next-morning or next-shift clinicians repeating documentation?
• Does our platform surface actionable insights or just store data?

Foundational programs:

• EMR interoperability road mapping
• Documentation loop closure
• Real-time symptom insight streams

Better information = fewer unnecessary visits + calmer patients and families.

Are We Treating Triage as a Clinical Strategy, Not a Cost Center?

Clinical access is the single most emotionally charged touchpoint for families.

Ask yourself:

• Are calls answered by a licensed nurse first?
• Are symptom calls escalating unnecessarily?
• Are we using triage data to inform staffing?

Measure now:

• Avoidable visit prevention
• Average nurse response time
• Patient/caregiver sentiment after after-hours calls

Triage is a quality lever not a phone bank, it is not to be underestimated.

Are We Ready for Payment Model Reductions and Complexity?

Value-based purchasing expansion, risk-based contracts, and rising oversight are forcing leaders to prove ROI.

Ask yourself:

• Can we demonstrate reduced ED utilization?
• Do we track cost avoidance tied to triage decisions?
• Are we benchmarking workforce spend against turnover risk?

Begin researching:

• Alternative payment models (APMs)
• Avoidable utilization metrics
• Care variation reduction

Reimbursement is shifting from what you did to what you prevented. With another home health payment reduction in 2026 and predicted further reductions in coming years, the provider that supports quality care efficiently and cost-effectively is the provider who can keep their doors open to deliver care in the future.

Are We Mature Enough in Data-Driven Decision-Making?

Many agencies still lack visibility into triage call patterns that drive outcomes.

Ask yourself:

• When are crisis calls most frequent?
• Which symptoms should trigger anticipatory outreach?
• Are we staffing based on assumptions or evidence?

Measure now:

• Time-of-day symptom clusters
• Top call drivers
• Escalation trends
• Visit follow-through rates

Insight transforms staffing from reactive to predictive.

Do We Have a Patient Engagement Strategy or Are We Waiting for Calls?

The costliest call is the one no one made until symptoms worsened. As such, ensure that staff has a planned outreach engagement plan in place. Also, make sure that your patients and families understand clinicians” availability. Do you have nurses available around the clock? Educate and encourage patients and families to call when they need to.

Ask yourself:

• Are caregivers prepared before pain changes?
• Do patients understand medication expectations?
• Do we proactively check in after known symptom triggers?

Foundational programs:

• Scheduled outbound symptom touchpoints
• Caregiver education micro-content
• Refill + equipment coordination support

Proactive outreach prevents midnight crisis.

Are We Building a Brand That Attracts Talent and Patients?

Sales and marketing are no longer dirty words. Growth sustains mission.

Ask yourself:

• Does our digital presence reflect quality?
• Are we publishing thought leadership monthly?
• Are referral partners clear on our differentiators?

Measure now:

• Digital conversion rate
• Content engagement
• Referral friction points
• Time-to-referral start of care

Growth is oxygen for innovation.

What Should We Start Now to Be Ready in Three Years?

Strategic leaders look beyond current pain.

Consider exploring:

• Workforce flexibility programs
• Centralized or outsourced triage models
• Advanced care team coordination
• Real-time outcomes dashboards
• Intelligent symptom routing
• Secure, interoperable communication layers

The gap between prepared organizations and reactive ones will continue to widen as the “movers and shakers” embrace technology, innovation, and the power of data analytics, while those in statis remain unwilling to change.

The Bottom Line

Post-acute care is shifting from:

• reactive to predictive,
• episodic to connected,
• documented to interoperable,
• staffed to sustainable.

Leaders who ask these questions now will be the ones who:
Protect nurse joy
Preserve patient dignity
Perform on new measures
And grow responsibly.

If you’d like benchmarking on triage performance or symptom escalation trends, give us a call. We’d be glad to help.