Abstract
Objective: This study examines the association between home health agency characteristics and quality improvement in home health care after Home Health Compare (HHC), a public-reporting initiative in the Medicare program. Method: We examined the changes in seven quality measures reported in HHC from 2003 to 2007. We used a linear regression model to examine whether quality changes over time differed by agency characteristics. Results: We found improvements in quality after HHC in the indicators that measure patients ability to independently manage daily activities; however, the use of emergent care did not change, and hospitalization rates increased during the study period. Agencies with low quality at baseline, not-for-profit or hospital-based agencies, and agencies with longer Medicare tenure showed greater improvement for some quality measures than their counterparts. Discussion: There was large variation in the degree of quality improvement after HHC by quality indicators and by agency characteristics.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 454-476 |
Number of pages | 23 |
Journal | Journal of Aging and Health |
Volume | 22 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2010 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Health(social science)
- Sociology and Political Science
- Life-span and Life-course Studies