STUDY: Smaller Caseloads Lead to Better Outcomes

PORTLAND, Maine (June 10, 2022)—Home health nurse case managers with smaller caseloads typically have better quality of care and patient satisfaction ratings, according to LeadingAge’s“National Healthcare at Home Best Practices and Future Insights Study.” The association for nonprofit aging service providers released the results of the yearlong study this week. LeadingAge collaborated with national accounting and consulting firm BerryDunn to collect data from over 1,000 agency sites in the areas of clinical, operational and financial best practices as well as technology, palliative care, staffing and future deliveries of care. The data reveals actionable insights for agencies to advance their efforts and achieve optimal performance.  

“With over 400,000 data points, we have only begun to skim the surface on findings from this study,” said Lindsay Doak, director of research at BerryDunn and co-chair of the National Healthcare at Home Best Practices and Future Insights Study. “The goal is to continue to uncover exactly what is working for successful agencies and share those findings with providers throughout the aging services sector. Not only will this have a positive impact on home health and hospice agencies as we prepare for value-based care, but it will also have a tremendous impact on the U.S. health care sector.” 

Initial top-line findings from the study include:  

• Home health agencies with registered nurse case manager caseloads under 25 have the highest Quality of Care and Patient Satisfaction Star Ratings. 
• Hospice agencies who admit their patients within four hours of receiving the referral have significantly higher family satisfaction scores than those who take longer.  
• A staggering 92% of agency respondents use telehealth, with 44% of those continuing to use telehealth after patient discharge for population health initiatives.  

“The data from this survey are truly groundbreaking—both in its depth, and in its reach, by providing insights from across the growing and diverse home health, home care and hospice sector. The result is a comprehensive, operational view of an evolving field, which comes at a critical time as care and services are in high demand,” said steering committee member Dr. Robyn Stone, senior vice president, research, LeadingAge, and co-director, LeadingAge LTSSCenter @UMass, Boston.

The comprehensive study results are available here. Future study data is expected to be released over the next six months and made available to survey participants in the study’s interactive web portal, as well as through state and national association sponsored presentations.  

The National Healthcare at Home Best Practices and Future Insights Study is sponsored by LeadingAge, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), Home Care Association of America (HCAOA) and Council of State Home Care Associations. The study was conducted by BerryDunn with HealthPivots and AlayaCare as data and technology advisors. 

For more information visit leadingage.org.