Agency characteristics and changes in home health quality after home health compare

Kyoungrae Jung, Dennis Shea, Candy Warner

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

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 languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)454-476
Number of pages23
JournalJournal of Aging and Health
Volume22
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2010

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Health(social science)
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Life-span and Life-course Studies

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