Home Health Compare
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What is home health care?
Home health care provides skilled nursing care, physical and occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, and medical social services in the comfort of home. Home health care is prescribed by your doctor and is provided by a variety of healthcare professionals. Medicare covers home health care that is temporary and part-time. Home health professionals may teach you, or your caregivers, how to care for wounds and manage medication. The goal is to help you reach and keep your best physical, mental, and social well-being.
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What is the home health quality information?
Quality of care cannot be taken for granted. Medicare-certified home health agencies have long collected information about the quality of care their clients receive. Now, Medicare has made this information available to help guide your decision-making process. You can compare how well agencies in your area help clients get better in:
- Bathing
- Dressing themselves
- Getting to and from the toilet
- Mobility
- Getting in and out of bed
- Taking oral medicines correctly
- Level of confusion
- Pain when moving around
- Admission rate to the hospital
- The need for urgent, unplanned care
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Where can I find information about the quality of care by home health agencies in my area?
Information about the quality of care by home health agencies in Kansas is available on the Medicare website, www.medicare.gov
, or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).Instructions on how to navigate the Medicare website
- Go to www.medicare.gov
- Select "Compare Home Health Agencies in Your Area"
- Follow the step-by-step instructions on the website to find information about agencies in your area
As you review the results of your search, look for agencies that perform well in the services you need most. When you call the agencies, use the "Things to Ask Home Health Agencies" checklist to guide you in learning more about the services they offer
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Things to Ask Home Health Agencies
This quality information is just one tool you can use during your decision-making process. Whether you are visiting with home health agency staff for the first time, you are currently receiving home care, or you have a loved one receiving home care, there are other quality of care issues you should also consider such as whether the agency:
- Offers the specific healthcare services you need, such as nursing or therapy
- Has staff available to provide the hours of care your doctor ordered, and can start when you need them
- Meets your special needs, such as language or cultural preferences
- Offers the personal care services you need, such as help bathing and dressing
- Offers the support services you need, such as help with laundry, cooking, or shopping
- Can help you arrange for additional services, such as Meals on Wheels
- Has staff available at night and on weekends for emergencies
- Is Medicare-certified
- Will explain what your insurance covers, and what you must pay out-of-pocket
- Does staff background checks
- Has letters from satisfied patients, family members, and doctors
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What does Medicare cover?
Medicare will help cover home health care costs for people with Medicare who meet the following four conditions:
- Your doctor must decide you need medical care at home, and make a plan for your care at home.
- You must need at least one of the following: intermittent skilled nursing care, physical therapy, speech-language therapy, or continue to need occupational therapy.
- You must be homebound. This means that you are normally unable to leave home unassisted. Being homebound means that leaving home is a major effort. When you leave home, it must be to get medical care, or for short, infrequent nonmedical reasons such as a trip to get a haircut, to attend religious services, or adult day care.
- The Medicare program must approve the home health agency caring for you.
For more information about these services and Medicare's coverage of home health care, read the free publication from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), "Medicare and Home Health Care," available on the Medicare website, www.medicare.gov
or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). -
Why is KFMC working with home health agencies?
A leader in healthcare quality improvement, KFMC has worked with Kansas health providers such as hospitals and physician offices for 30 years. Now, we have expanded our quality improvement work to include Kansas home health agencies.
In conjunction with Medicare's release of this quality information, KFMC is working closely with home health agencies to help them enhance the quality of care they provide to Medicare beneficiaries. At the same time, KFMC is helping Medicare beneficiaries to understand this information and how it can be used when making decisions about home health agencies.
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What are the benefits for Kansans?
Designated as the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for Kansas, KFMC receives federal funding to work with Kansas healthcare providers - hospitals, physician offices, nursing homes, and home health agencies - to improve the medical care they provide. The purpose is to:
- Improve the quality of care for beneficiaries by ensuring that care meets professionally recognized standards
- Protect beneficiaries by expeditiously addressing individual cases such as consumer complaints
- Protect the integrity of the Medicare Trust Fund and the taxpayer dollars that fund it by ensuring that Medicare pays only for services and items that are reasonable and medically necessary and that are provided in an appropriate setting.
Our work ultimately improves medical care for all Kansans and ensures that Medicare will be available for future generations of Kansans.
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What are the benefits for home health agencies?
KFMC receives federal funding, so our quality improvement projects are free for all Kansas healthcare providers. Projects focus on care processes known to improve patient, resident, or client outcomes. Improvement is based on how often these critical processes or services are performed or how often desired outcomes are achieved.
Home health agencies that choose to participate in the Home Health Quality Initiative (HHQI) have opportunities to examine their practices and collaborate with other agencies to share information, enhance learning, and accelerate improvement.
Home health agencies receive education, intervention materials and information, technical assistance, and other support to help them improve care.
Go to Compare Home Health Agencies in Your Area now!
See also our Medicare Beneficiary Help page.