Home Health & Hospice Quality Ratings - free

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Quality Ratings, Report Cards and Credentials - Compare Healthcare Quality
Home Health & Hospice Quality Ratings - free

Primary Listings

Home Health Compare – www.medicare.gov (all states) Editor's Pick

Home Health Compare is a free search tool from Medicare that gives detailed information about Medicare-certified home health agencies. Search by county or zip code and see performance scores related to home care services. Compare home health agencies on measures related to managing daily activities, pain, teaching patients or their caregivers, getting readmitted to the hospital and more. Five star rating system and actual scores. Patient satisfaction ratings included, with a national average of 78% who would recommend their agency. Report card shows 2020-21 data in the latest federal update February 2022. Part of the federal government Care Compare.

Hospice Compare – medicare.gov (all states) Editor's Pick

Compare up to 3 hospices at a time at Hospice Compare by Medicare.gov. Site currently reports performance on quality measures related to patient preferences and quality of care in managing pain and treating symptoms, 2019 data. Family satisfaction is also reported, including family training and communication, emotional support, pain management, overall rating of the hospice and willingness to recommend the hospice (national average is that 84% would recommend). Check to see what kinds of patients the hospice tends to serve – for example, cancer, dementia, heart disease, stroke. Site is updated quarterly by CMS. Search by zip code, state or city. All hospice agencies report, or face financial penalties. Published by the federal government. Good, reliable website. Most measures have data from 2020-2021, as of the February 2022 update.

Accredited Healthcare Facilities – Joint Commission Accreditation (all states) Editor's Pick

Find accredited healthcare facilities in all states, by The Joint Commission (TJC). TJC is formerly JCAHO – Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. It accredits hospitals and other healthcare organizations. Quality Check provides accreditation and comparison information for hospitals, behavioral health care, home health/hospice, laboratories, some nursing homes (called nursing care centers) & assisted living centers, and other health care services. A few actual scores for acute care hospitals, emergency departments and behavioral health (mental health) programs may be available for 2021. For nursing homes, consumers are advised also to check state inspection reports . In the past, we have discovered a 1-star Florida nursing home (the lowest possible rating in the state) had been accredited by the Joint Commission. Consumers are always advised to check multiple sources and ratings when researching quality of care. Conflicts in scores may suggest quality is not consistent. Updated 2022.

Other Helpful Listings

Home Care and Hospice Locator (NAHC)

Home health care and hospice agency Locator Directory by National Association for Home Care and Hospice. Consumers may search by city or zip code. Easy to use, but not all agencies are included. Over 33,000 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.

Hospice – Find a Hospice (NHPCO)

Find a hospice or palliative care provider at this site by NHPCO. The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) 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, palliative care program or bereavement service.

Hospice Facts and Figures on Hospice Care in America – NHPCO

NHPCO’s 2022 report “Facts & Figures” describes who gets hospice care in America, and for how long. The median length of service was 18 days. The average lifetime amount of time in the program was higher (97 days), in part because of the long-stay effect of Alzheimer’s patients. The top 3 diagnosis categories were Alzheimer’s, dementia and Parkinson’s (median 56 days); heart disease (median 33 days); and cancer (median length of service of 17 days), The 2022 edition shows patient care and provider statistics for 2020, the first year of the pandemic. There were 5,058 Medicare-certified hospices operating in 2020. Less than half (47.8%) of Medicare patients who died that year, chose to be in hospice. This compares to almost 52% in 2019. Yet, despite the percentage, almost 7% more patients chose hospice. The high number of Covid deaths in 2020 may have skewed the numbers. The median length of stay in hospice for COVID-19 patients was only 4 days. Many Covid patients and families may not have had sufficient time to decide about hospice enrollment. NHPCO is the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Published December 2022.

List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE) – See Who is Excluded from Medicare Editor's Pick

The List of Excluded Individuals and Entities (LEIE) is a Medicare fraud prevention site by the HHS Office of Inspector General. It 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. Exclusions Database contains physicians, nurses, nurses’ aides, hospital employees, pharmacists, nursing home operators and more. More than 77,000 names on the list as of April 2023. Updated monthly.