A new long-term care business model will soon be available to Tennessee’s healthcare entrepreneurs. But many are wondering: Who’s going to stick a toe in the water and open the first Adult Care Home?

 

The Board for Licensing Health Care Facilities last month was working to finalize the regulations defining this new type of long-term housing, which is designed to accommodate in a home-like setting up to five individuals dealing with traumatic brain injuries or dependent on ventilators.

 

The idea is to provide a community-based care alternative to these patients who currently “fall in a gap in the system,” said TennCare Bureau Assistant Commissioner Patti Killingsworth. They’re not traditionally served by nursing homes or assisted-living facilities, particularly if the individuals happen to be younger than those facilities’ typical residents.

 

Over time, Killingsworth and backers of the legislation would like to see Adult Care Home regulations expanded to include individuals with less acute conditions, like those simply needing assistance getting into and out of bed and preparing meals. That would bring the program more in line with Oregon’s Adult Foster Homes plans, on which Tennessee’s homes are modeled.

 

For now, anyone who is (or hires) properly licensed healthcare professionals to staff the home 24 hours a day can own an Adult Care Home (ACH). Killingsworth said there’s been “a fair bit of interest already,” including from nurses who may convert their homes to care for a few patients themselves.

 

A former private-duty nursing company employee, Kunu Kaushal, has assembled a team of six people, including doctors and nurses, with plans to open up to six ACHs across the state. But he acknowledges these are untested waters, and his team plans to open one first as a model.

 

Once a few homes have been established and there’s a clearer picture of the patient population dynamics, as well as the business model’s margins, don’t be surprised if larger long-term care operators buy or build several of these homes to complement their services.