Now in its eighth year, the HomeCare Elite identifies the top 25 percent of Medicare-certified agencies and highlights the top 100 and top 500 agencies overall.
Winners are ranked by an analysis of publicly available performance measures in quality outcomes, best practice (process measure) implementation, patient experience (Home Health CAHPS), quality improvement and consistency, and financial performance. In order to be considered, an agency must be Medicare-certified and have data for at least one outcome in Home Health Compare. Out of 9,969 agencies considered, 2,496 are elite.
The award is sponsored by OCS HomeCare by National Research Corporation, the leading provider of home health metrics and analytics, and DecisionHealth, publisher of the most respected independent newsletter in the home health profession, Home Health Line.
“The 2013 HomeCare Elite winners demonstrate a commitment to providing patient-centered care and serving as leaders in the home health community. Their success is a tribute that manageing healthcare data and utilizing it for improvement initiatives lead to high quality care, and we recognize them for their outstanding achievements,” said Mary Oakes, senior vice president of post-acute at National Research.” “We congratulate Ledyard Regional VNA on being recognized as a top home care agency.”
Ledyard Regional VNA’s Administrative Supervisor, Karen Goetchius, credits dedicated staff and commitment to health care at home to achieve recognition as one of the HomeCare Elite. She said, "Ledyard Regional VNA will continue to provide our residents with the most cost effective quality care.”
“HomeCare Elite recognition is a significant acknowledgement. The shift from fee-for-service to pay-for-performance payment models is reshaping the healthcare profession. And home health is proving to be an integral part of the continuum. In the face of value-based purchasing and care delivery model changes, the metrics that make up HomeCare Elite methodology shine an accountable light on an industry that may be the lynch pin to achieving affordable care at home,” said Marci Heydt, Product Manager for the post-acute care business group of DecisionHealth.
The entire list of 2013 HomeCare Elite agencies can be downloaded by visiting the National Research Corporation website at www.nationalresearch.com/homecareelite.