This important finder tool, provided by the U.S. Government, Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS), has detailed information about every Medicare-certified home health agency in the country. The data contained in this data base is periodically updated by CMS.
Any search for home health care services should include a search of this useful and comprehensive tool. It allows you to find home health care agencies certified by Medicare by zip code, by city and state, or by name, and to compare them, including access to their evaluations and inspection reports and a comparison of their ratings received in these reports.
You can compare up to three agencies at a time, obtaining a detailed comparative report of the services they provide and of their percentile grades on a large number of measures of the quality of care they have provided, compared to the average grades on those same measures received by all Medicare-certified agencies in the same state and nationally.
A comparison of the grades received by the agencies in Medicare inspections is shown for quality measures including:
- Managing Daily Activities:
- How often patients got better at walking or moving around.
- How often patients got better at getting in and out of bed.
- How often patients got better at bathing.
- Managing Pain and Treating Symptoms:
- How often the home health team checked patients for pain.
- How often the home health team treated their patients’ pain.
- How often patients had less pain when moving around.
- How often the home health team treated heart failure (weakening of the heart) patients’ symptoms.
- How often patients’ breathing improved.
- Treating Wounds and Preventing Pressure Sores (Bed Sores):
- How often patients’ wounds improved or healed after an operation.
- How often the home health team checked patients for the risk of developing pressure sores (bed sores).
- How often the home health team included treatments to prevent pressure sores (bed sores) in the plan of care.
- How often the home health team took doctor-ordered action to prevent pressure sores (bed sores).
- How often patients had more pressure sores (bed sores) when home health care ended.
- Preventing Harm:
- How often the home health team began their patients’ care in a timely manner.
- How often the home health team taught patients (or their family caregivers) about their drugs.
- How often patients got better at taking their drugs correctly by mouth.
- How often the home health team checked patients’ risk of falling.
- How often the home health team checked patients for depression.
- How often the home health team determined whether patients received a flu shot for the current flu season.
- How often the home health team determined whether their patients received a pneumococcal vaccine (pneumonia shot).
- For patients with diabetes, how often the home health team got doctor’s orders, gave foot care, and taught patients about foot care.
- Preventing Unplanned Hospital Care:
- How often patients receiving home health care needed any urgent, unplanned care in the hospital emergency room – without being admitted to the hospital.
- How often home health patients had to be admitted to the hospital
Find and Compare Medicare-Certified Home Health Agencies Now, using » Medicare.gov – Home Health Compare – Agency Search.
More Information
See also CareHelpFinder™, the HelpingYouCare™ senior-care resource locator tools to help you:
- Find Home Health Care & Private Duty Aides;
- Find Senior Housing and Care Facilities, including:
- Find & Compare Doctors, Care Managers & Other Professional Advisors;
- Find Other Care Resources.
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