Home Health and Hospice Quality Ratings

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Mission

Consumer Health Ratings is dedicated to providing consumers with information they can use to make better-informed decisions about their health care. Even though the field of healthcare ratings is not yet fully developed or deployed in the United States, sufficient quality ratings for hospitals and health plans currently exist nationwide, such that millions of consumers can benefit. We believe that greater engagement and involvement by consumers will help health care leaders improve the performance of their systems, help policy-makers make better decisions, and help the American people achieve better health.


Description

ConsumerHealthRatings.com provides the most comprehensive listing of organizations that rate or report performance on specific hospitals, health plans, physicians, nursing homes, home health agencies and other health care providers in the United States. The ratings information is free. This site helps you:
- Research how often hospitals provide recommended care for pneumonia and heart cases and follow guidelines to prevent surgical infections;
- Find the health plans or medical groups that are more successful in treating diabetic patients, have better mental health follow-up or are rated high in member satisfaction;
- Check your physician’s credentials such as licensure and board certification;
- Discover which providers have significantly better mortality or complication rates on a wide range of illnesses, and much more.

This is the place to inform yourself about healthcare costs and quality before a medical crisis hits and you find yourself in an Emergency Department. Mortality is no laughing matter. Now is the time to plan ahead by making sure your local provider quality ratings meet your standards. At ConsumerHealthRatings.com, you will learn you have more choices than you ever thought possible.



PRIMARY LISTINGS


HealthInsight: National Rankings for Home Health Agencies (all states)
http://www.healthinsight.org/performance/hh_rankings/rankings.html
Overall composite home health quality ratings based on a summary of 11 measures of care in 2008-2009. Health Insight, the QIO for Utah and Nevada, used the national CMS measures and data to develop a composite ranking. Easier to use than the federal CMS website, but less detail. Interactive tool allows quick search by state

Home Health Compare - www.medicare.gov (all states)
http://www.medicare.gov/HHCompare/Home.asp#NewSearch
This tool gives detailed information about Medicare-certified home health agencies. Search by county or zip code and see performance scores related to nursing care, physical and occupational therapy, home health aides, speech and social services. Find the graphs to compare agencies on ten measures related to getting around, pain, bladder control, bathing, patients who get admitted to the hospital or need urgent unplanned medical care, and more. 2008-2009 data

Top Tier Home Health Agencies 2008 - all states (pdf)
http://www.ocshomecare.com/
List of over 1700 home health agencies that rate in the top 25% has been released by OCS, a post-acute healthcare information company based in Seattle. Uses Quality and Financial performance data (2007-2008) from HomeHealthCompare and CMS Medicare cost reports. Top 100 and top 500 agencies flagged for consumers. OCS' HomeCare Elite (TM) list (17 pages) in alphabetical order. Free registration required

Accredited Healthcare Facilities - Joint Commission Accreditation (all states)  
http://www.qualitycheck.org/consumer/searchQCR.aspx
The Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO - Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) accredits hospitals and other healthcare organizations. Quality Check provides accreditation and comparison information for hospitals, home health/hospice, laboratories, some nursing homes & assisted living centers, and other health care services. Click on View Accreditation Quality Report to see actual scores for 2008-2009

Hospice - Find a Hospice that signed the Quality Pledge (NHPCO)
http://iweb.nhpco.org/iweb/Membership/MemberDirectorySearch.aspx?pageid=3257&showTitle=1
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization is the largest nonprofit membership organization representing hospice and palliative care programs and professionals in the US. Their searchable database helps consumers find a member hospice, including those Quality Partners who have signed the Quality Pledge

Other Helpful Listings

Fraud Prevention - See Who is Excluded from Medicare ...
http://exclusions.oig.hhs.gov/
Site by the HHS Office of Inspector General allows consumer to search for a specific name of a person or business to see if they have been excluded from receiving payment from Medicare and Medicaid, due to license revocation, suspension or surrender; program-related fraud; patient abuse or neglect, and other reasons such as default on Health Education Assistance Loans. Database contains physicians, nurses, nurses’ aides, hospital employees, pharmacists, nursing home operators and more. Nearly 45,000 listings as of June 2009

Home Care and Hospice Locator (NAHC)
http://www.nahcagencylocator.com/
Directory by National Association for Home Care and Hospice allows consumers to search by city or zip code. Easy to use. Over 20,000 agencies reportedly listed; some may be accredited. Note: hospice and home health agencies may be licensed even if this list does not show licensure status. NAHC is a trade organization


STATE-LEVEL HOME HEALTH AND HOSPICE QUALITY RATINGS -- FREE


Primary Listings

Alabama Nursing Home Deficiencies, Assisted Living, Hospitals, Surgery Centers, Etc.
http://adphnotes.state.al.us/hcfweb.nsf
Find free reports on deficiencies for AL nursing homes, assisted living, outpatient surgery facilities, hospitals, home health agencies, hospices, end stage renal disease treatment (kidney dialysis) centers, rehab facilities and more. Some Inspection reports may contain no deficiencies, but simply report a regulatory visit. Site by the Alabama Department of Public Health

California Nursing Home, Home Health and Hospice Cost and Quality Ratings
http://www.calqualitycare.org/
CA HealthCare Foundation, a nonprofit philanthropy and UC San Francisco have teamed up to provide this ratings site for California Nursing Homes, Home Health and Hospice organizations. Nursing facilities are rated on staffing, quality and financial measures (note, the cost ratings are confusing). Home Health and Hospice are rated on quality measures. This site also serves as a directory for residential care (assisted living) and other senior care programs

Colorado Health Facilities & Home Health - Complaints, Occurrences, Surveys
http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/hf/index.html
Shows complaints, inspection surveys, and adverse events that must be reported to the state for all types of facilities licensed by Colorado, including hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living residences, ambulatory surgery, birth centers, chiropractic centers, dialysis clinics, hospice and home health agencies, outpatient physical therapy, adult day programs, mental health clinics, portable x-ray services, trauma center. State government website by the CO Department of Public Health and Environment

Connecticut Health Care Facility License - Verification
http://www.dir.ct.gov/dph/Scripts/hlthfac.asp
Verify facility licenses for Connecticut assisted living facilities, nursing homes (filed under C for Chronic and Convalescent), home health agencies, hospice, hospitals, mental health facilities, outpatient clinics, surgical facilities, substance abuse and recovery care centers, residential care, and other health care services. CT Dept. of Public Health site shows contact and management information. Easy to use, but limited information

Florida Hospice Satisfaction Ratings - FloridaHealthFinder.gov  
http://www.floridahealthfinder.gov/Hospice/SelectLocationHospice.aspx
Compare hospice ratings from the Family Evaluation of Hospice Care survey (2008). Shows one to 5 stars. Another easy-to-use site from FloridaHealthFinder.gov (FL Agency for Health Care Administration)

Florida Inspection Reports - All health facilities, 2009
http://ahcaxnet.fdhc.state.fl.us/dm_web/%28S%28ggt3nn45bnp2rv45uvselufj%29%29/Default.aspx
Recent inspection reports for all types of healthcare faciilities in Florida. Site includes ambulatory surgery centers, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, birth centers, hospitals, clinics, home health, hospice, lab, MRI and imaging centers (see health care clinics), dialysis, rehab agencies, residential treatment centers and more. Both regular biennial inspection reports, and those from complaint investigations are included. Site by FL Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) is easy to use. Updated for 2009

Georgia - Hospitals, nursing homes, home health, and more
http://167.193.144.216/
Facility Inspection Reports by the Office of Regulatory Services at DHR - Locate any state-licensed, registered or certified health facility (including ESRD) in GA and check to see if there is a report available. Limited comparative information. Most hospitals do NOT have inspection violation reports. Nursing home and home health reports are referred to the federal NursingHomeCompare and HomeHealthCompare Web sites.

New York State Home Health and Hospice Care Ratings (2009)  
http://homecare.nyhealth.gov/
Search by county to compare certified home health agencies and hospice programs. Site by NY Department of Health shows 1 to 5 stars for measures like getting around at home, getting better at bladder control and bathing, less short of breath, healing wounds, and avoiding medical emergencies where you have to be readmitted to the hospital. Uses 2008-2009 data. Easy to use; but side-by-side comparisons are limited to only one measure at a time; no composite scores. Click on Quality tab to see 12 measures; other tabs show survey inspection summaries and fines. Consumers may have difficulty understanding the different agency categories: Certified home health agencies vs. licensed or long-term home health. Updated 2009

Rhode Island Home Health Agency Ratings 2009
http://www.health.ri.gov/chic/performance/homehealth/index.php
Ratings of home health agencies in Rhode Island show comparisons on clinical measures (2008-2009 data) and patient satisfaction scores (2007). Published by the RI Department of Health

State Websites with Home Health Agency Information
http://www.medicare.gov/HHCompare/Home.asp
Click on Resources, then Related Websites, in order to find the links to state websites. Medicare.gov will not allow a direct link to the related websites page.

Other Helpful Listings

North Dakota - CNA (nursing assistants) Abuse List (pdf)
http://www.ndhealth.gov/HF/North_Dakota_certified_nurse_aide.htm
You can check to see if a certified nurse aide has been on the validated abuse list in the last 15 years in ND. Types: mental, neglect, physical, sexual, theft and verbal abuse. State government list, 8 pages, updated 2009

Pennsylvania Health Care Facility & Home Health Locator
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/department_of_health_home/17457
The PA Dept. of Health provides a search by county for an Ambulatory Surgical Center, Birth Center, Outpatient Rehab, Drug and Alcohol Treatment, Renal/ Kidney Dialysis, Home Health Agency, Hospice, Hospital, Intermediate Care for Developmentally Disabled/Mentally Retarded, Nursing Homes, Pediatric Extended Care, Speech and Physical Therapy, Portable X-Ray, and Rural Health Clinic. Many of the sites have links to facility-specific inspection survey reports


LEARN MORE ABOUT HOME HEALTH AND HOSPICE


Primary Listings

Facts and Statistics about Home Health Care and Hospice
http://www.nahc.org/Facts/
See Basic Statistics about Home Care 2008, prepared by the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC), a large trade association representing home care agencies, hospices, medical equipment suppliers and others. Report includes average compensation data for top home health executives

Home Care Services (MedlinePlus)
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/homecareservices.html
How to choose quality home health care services, adult day care, what skilled home care means, hiring a home care worker, billing practices, Medicare's home health benefit, and more.

Other Helpful Listings

Long-Term Care Data (AARP) 2009
http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/il/d19105_2008_ats.pdf
Statistical report by AARP (Across the States 2009: Profiles of Long-term Care and Independent Living) includes home health and nursing home utilization data from 2007 and average 2008 prices for home health, nursing home and assisted living facilities (p. 33). States with Green House projects shown on p. 25. Individual state detail. Full report is 368 pages