How to Become the Home Health Agency Hospitals Call First
A discharge planner at a hospital has a patient going home tomorrow after surgery.
A few years ago, she'd have called the agencies she knew best. Today, her hospital may be financially responsible for the next 30 days of that patient's care, including what happens at home. Every referral is now part of the hospital's cost and quality results.
So the questions she's asking have changed. It's less "who do I know?" and more "who answers quickly, who follows through, and who can show me numbers?"
What's Changing
CMS's Transforming Episode Accountability Model, known as TEAM, started January 1, 2026. It's a mandatory five-year program that makes selected hospitals, more than 700 across 45 states, accountable for the cost and quality of certain surgical episodes for 30 days after discharge, including post-acute care.
Here's how the reporting describes the effect on agencies:
Referral relationships are becoming more data-driven. Analysts at Trella Health expect hospitals to concentrate referrals around a smaller set of high-performing partners, with preferred-network status earned through outcomes proven with data.
Coordination is tightening. Experts told Home Health Care News that TEAM will increasingly push hospitals to tighten coordination with home health agencies and other post-acute partners.
The pressure is about to rise. 2026 was an upside-only year for hospitals. Downside financial risk begins in 2027.
Speed and responsiveness count. One industry analysis of TEAM's first months points to speed to start of care and referral reliability as growing factors in how hospitals judge agencies.
Home health has a strong story to tell. In Trella's analysis of TEAM surgical episodes, home health discharges had a 30-day readmission rate around 7%, compared with roughly 15% for skilled nursing discharges.
The gap for many agencies is proof. A 2023 study of 58 Michigan hospital discharge planners found that 90% wanted quality data on the agencies they refer to, but only 20% had it.
This applies most directly to home health agencies in affected markets. Home care, hospice, and private-duty providers who take referrals from discharge planners and case managers face a similar shift toward reliability and transparency.
What That Means for Owners
Relationships still matter. But they're now backed by questions an agency should be ready to answer:
How fast do you confirm a referral, including after 5 PM?
Can someone at the hospital reach a person at your agency any hour?
When a family or caregiver raises a concern after discharge, how quickly does it reach your team?
Can you show response times and follow-through, not just describe them?
Agencies that can answer with numbers are easier to refer to. Agencies that can't are asking planners to take it on trust.
Four Ways to Become an Easier Partner
1. Know your numbers. Track time to confirm a referral and time to first contact, split by time of day. Averages can hide slow evenings.
2. Give hospitals a reliable way to reach you at any hour. Discharge decisions don't wait for business hours. One number answered by a person makes you easier to work with.
3. Share a simple scorecard. A one-page summary of response times and follow-through gives planners something concrete, and shows you take it seriously.
4. Escalate early. When a family or caregiver raises a concern after discharge, getting it to your clinical team quickly supports good transitions. Clinical decisions stay with your clinicians. The goal is speed in getting the information to them.
How CuraCall Helps You Grow Hospital Relationships
CuraCall focuses on how calls, messages, and referrals are handled, especially after hours, which is where many agencies are slowest.
What hospital partners look for | CuraCall service | Benefit to your business |
Fast referral confirmation, including evenings and weekends | 24/7 live coverage and faster referral acceptance | Referrals reach a real person and get confirmed quickly, so you're easier to say yes to. |
Data, not just promises | CuraCall reporting: response times, escalation metrics, operational trends, team accountability | Real numbers you can put on a partner scorecard. |
Smooth transitions after discharge | Aila instant texting and Max workflow coordination | Family and caregiver concerns are received quickly and routed to the right person on your team. |
Dependable follow-through | Consistent coverage without adding headcount | Reliable responsiveness without new fixed costs. |
The result is an agency that answers quickly, can show how well it did, and gives hospital partners fewer reasons to look elsewhere.
The Key Takeaway
Hospitals are under more pressure for what happens after discharge, and they're likely to rely on fewer, better-documented partners. Agencies can strengthen their position by answering quickly at every hour, escalating concerns early, and backing it up with numbers. That's within your control, and it's the kind of proof planners are looking for.
If you're looking to improve the way you AI Home Care initiatives, reach out to Paul Lieberman, CuraCall, CEO and President — paul@curacall.com or you may click the link to book a schedule https://www.curacall.com/book-online.
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