Integrated Home Care Services (IHCS) – an independent benefit manager of durable medical equipment (DME), home health and home infusion services – has named Ajani Nimmagadda, M.D., as chief medical officer.
Miramar, Florida-based IHCS is active in 12 states and Puerto Rico, serving more than 2.4 million patients, according to its website. The company’s model leverages data and a network of providers with the goal of driving more efficient and effective in-home care and services to support the value-based care goals of health plans. For instance, IHCS employs product experts who are tasked with matching patients with needed medical equipment and ensuring that the equipment is procured at a reasonable price and delivered in a timely manner.
IHCS specializes in serving beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage, managed Medicaid, commercial and Affordable Care Act plans.
Nimmagadda comes to IHCS after nearly 19 years with Cigna Healthcare, where she served in a variety of roles overseeing comprehensive medical and pharmacy utilization management programs and specialty drug clinical programs, according to an Oct. 7 press release announcing her appointment. During a career of nearly three decades, she has practiced as an internal medicine and infectious diseases physician.
“IHCS’ approach is reinventing home care benefit management, replacing fragmented approaches with an integrated, insights-based, coordinated model that improves clinical outcomes, patient experience, and reduces healthcare costs,” Nimmagadda stated in the release. “Improving care in the home has always been a passion of mine, and I look forward to unlocking the full potential of care in the home together with our team members, providers, caregivers, and health plan partners.”
Home medical equipment (HME) is an important part of the IHCS approach – in fact, IHCS co-founder and Chief Growth and Analytics Officer Paul Pino described HME as the “unsung hero of the post-acute space” in comments at the HME Business FUTURE conference in August.
Compared to the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, the utilization of HME/DME has risen about 20% to 25% per 1,000 health plan members, Pino noted. Payers and health systems increasingly understand the importance of such equipment in value-based care models, as the right HME/DME enables better care outcomes in the lower-cost home setting.
“What we find across the board is that, from a value standpoint, HME/DME is constantly generating additional value,” Pino said.
