Missouri Home Care Announces Improvement in Acute Care Hospitalization Rates

Missouri Home Care credits staff and patient education as the primary reason for reduction in acute care hospitalization rates.

January 3rd, 2006 --Missouri Home Care ranks better than the national average when it comes to minimization of acute care hospitalization rates for home health patients. In fact, Missouri Home Care is already below the suggested targeted rate provided by Medicare’s Quality Improvement Organization (QIO), Primaris, and that’s a good thing.

“This is exciting news for our patients and our referral sources,” says Regional Vice President, Mary Kaye Kramme, “as the risk-adjusted data indicates that our patients experience fewer acute care hospitalization episodes while they are under our care.”

The chart below compares Missouri Home Care acute care hospitalization data with the national average. All data listed herein is provided by Primaris and has been risk-adjusted to eliminate any statistical anomalies in data reporting, client acuity, or diagnosis.

“For this quality measure, the lower the score the better,” says Kramme. “If you look at December, home care agencies across the nation were reporting acute care hospitalization episodes for 28% of their patients, while MHC was reporting acute care hospitalization episodes for 21% of their patients.”

Karen Weber, RN, Quality Improvement Manager for Missouri Home Care has developed a Plan of Action for further reduction of MHC’s acute care hospitalization rates.

“The plan is designed to work through continued education of our staff and patients,” says Weber. “At a patient’s start of care, the RN utilizes our high-risk for hospitalization assessment tool and our fall risk assessment tool. The data collected through these tools alert our staff to patients who are at high risk of potentially becoming an acute care hospitalization patient. This allows us to better plan visit frequency for the at-risk patient, as well as develop an individualized Emergency Care Plan that specifically educates the patients on steps to take to lessen their changes of a hospital admission while they are being cared for within a home health episode.”

The Emergency Care Plan is reviewed with the patient and a copy remains in the patient home for reference. The Plan specifically addresses when to call the Missouri Home Care RN and when to call 911. The following issues are addressed with the patient at the time of admission and are reviewed at each follow-up visit so the patient may make an informed decision as to who to call – MHC or 911 – in the event of an emergency:

• Diabetic Problems
• Urinary Problems
• Signs of Infection
• Heart/Lung Problems
• Too much blood thinner
• Other problems

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid provides publicly listed comparison data for 11 different risk-adjusted outcomes on their website: www.medicare.gov/hhcompare. To view further outcome comparisons specifically for MHC versus national averages, click the here.

About Missouri Home Care, Inc.:
Missouri Home Care has been providing professional services to patients in their homes for over 30 years.  They service patients in 40 counties across central and southern Missouri, with their 6 regional offices located in Rolla, West Plains, Lake Ozark, Poplar Bluff, and Mountain Grove,.  Missouri Home Care offers Continuous Care Services, including homemaker chore, personal care, advanced personal care, basic respite, advanced respite, nurse respite, and authorized nurse visits.  They also provide Skilled Nursing Services for acute illnesses requiring intermittent visits.  For more information about Missouri Home Care, contact 1-800-771-7440 or info@mohomecare.com.

For More Information Contact:

Mary Kaye Kramme, Regional  Vice President
Missouri Home Care
1026 Kingshighway
Rolla, MO  65402
Office:  573-364-3610
info@mohomecare.com