U.S. News & World Report Identifies Top Home Health Agencies

WASHINGTON—U.S. News & World Report, a health care rankings and consumer advice media company, released its first-ever ratings for Best Home Health. This new evaluation provides a resource for millions of Americans seeking high-quality health care in the comfort of their own homes following a hospital stay or illness.

As the demand for post-acute care continues to rise, U.S. News evaluated more than 12,000 Medicare-certified home health agencies across the country. The inaugural ratings highlight two key groups of providers that patients and their families should consider when navigating their care options, in consultation with their physicians:

• High Performing: 1,319 agencies earned the Best Home Health distinction for exceeding expectations in care quality and patient experience.
• As Expected: 5,288 agencies met the U.S. News standards for care quality and patient experience.

“For patients recovering from surgery or managing a chronic condition, the quality of care they receive at home can be the difference between a successful recovery and a costly rehospitalization,” said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News. “Families often must make crucial post-acute care decisions during stressful times and on very short notice. These new ratings are intended to serve as a helpful starting point, offering a clear view of agencies that have demonstrated a track record of positive patient outcomes and satisfied consumers.”

How U.S. News Best Home Health agencies compare to the national average:

• Faster Start Times: Best Home Health agencies began care on time for 99% of patients, beating the national average of 94%. Prompt initiation of care can help patients manage their transition from hospital to home, getting the recovery off to a good start.
• Better Mobility: 93% of patients who received care from top-rated agencies saw an improvement in walking and moving, compared to just 83% nationwide. Recovering mobility that may have been lost during a hospitalization is often an important goal of home health.
• Daily Independence: Home health patients treated by top-rated agencies were also more likely than patients nationwide to get better at getting out of bed, bathing themselves and taking their medicines correctly. Improvement in these activities of daily living are important signs of a patient’s recovery.

Note: Averages are calculated by U.S. News from data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The Best Home Health methodology developed by U.S. News leverages two data sets from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Data on care quality measures, including timely initiation of care and outcomes such as potentially preventable hospitalizations, were combined with patient experience surveys to produce the ratings.