Visiting Nurse Service and Finger Lakes Visiting Nurse Service, UR Medicine's certified home care agencies, announced today that they were named to the 2015 HomeCare Elite™, a recognition of the top-performing home health agencies in the United States. Now in its tenth year, the HomeCare Elite identifies the top 25 percent of Medicare-certified agencies. Out of 9,718 agencies considered, 2,431 are elite.
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. "The 2015 HomeCare Elite winners deserve credit for demonstrating high-quality care in their communities. As quality care initiatives become top-of-mind for healthcare providers, we recognize this as a remarkable achievement and are pleased to make this our 10th year of acknowledgement for top performing home health organizations," said Christine Lang, VP of Product Development for OCS HomeCare. "We congratulate Visiting Nurse Service and Finger Lakes Visiting Nurse Service on being among the top home care agencies in the country." The award is sponsored by OCS HomeCare by National Research Corporation, the leading provider of home health and hospice metrics and analytics, and DecisionHealth, publisher of the most respected independent publication in the home care profession, Home Health Line. Jane Shukitis, Visiting Nurse Service's and Finger Lakes Visiting Nurse Service's President and CEO, credits employees' dedication and compassion with the agencies' ability to achieve recognition in the HomeCare Elite. "Our staff truly cares about patients and their families. They go the extra mile to make those in our care safe at home. Our staff don't just see it as a job; it's their passion," she said. "As CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) ramps up its nationwide initiatives to reward home care agencies for the quality of care they provide, this is yet another way to acknowledge those agencies that have demonstrated their commitment to improving patient care at lower costs," said Marci Heydt, Senior Content Manager, DecisionHealth. "The winners of the HomeCare Elite Award are proving that a heightened focus on clinical outcomes, patient experience, and financial management leads to success."
About Visiting Nurse Service and Finger Lakes Visiting Nurse Service
Visiting Nurse Service and Finger Lakes Visiting Nurse Service are UR Medicine's not-for-profit home health care agencies. Medicare-certified and licensed by the State of New York, they conduct more than 400,000 visits to 13,000 patients annually. Services include nursing, physical, occupational and speech therapies, assistance with daily activities (home health aide services), Meals On Wheels, Hospice (in homes and facilities), Nurse-Family Partnership, Health Home care management, and Telehealth. Visiting Nurse Service is a member of the Home Care Association of New York State, Inc. and the National Association for Home Care. Visiting Nurse Hospice is a member of the New York State Hospice and Palliative Care Association and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Association. For more information, call (585) 787-2233.
About National Research Corporation
For more than 30 years, National Research Corporation (NASDAQ: NRCIA and NRCIB) has been at the forefront of patient-centered care. Today, the company's focus on empowering customer-centric healthcare across the continuum extends patient-centered care to incorporate families, communities, employees, senior housing residents, and other stakeholders.
National Research is dedicated to representing the true voice of patients and other healthcare stakeholders. This integration of cross-continuum metrics and analytics uncovers insights for effective performance improvement, quality measurement, care transitions, and many other factors that impact population health management.
For more information about HomeCare Elite, call 1-888-325-3396, write to HomeCareElite@ocsys.com.
About DecisionHealth®
For over 25 years, DecisionHealth has served as the home care industry's leading source for analysis and tools to improve revenue cycle performance, profitability and regulatory compliance. Agencies nationwide turn to DecisionHealth for education and training, coding and billing solutions, and ongoing expert guidance through its family of online products, print solutions, and live training events. DecisionHealth also certifies home health agency professionals in ICD-10 coding and OASIS-C1 through its Board of Medical Specialty Coding & Compliance, and provides custom consulting services to agency leaders through its DecisionHealth Professional Services unit. For product information, call 1-855-CALL-DH1 or visit www.decisionhealth.com.