A new report found that Florida is home to more than 100 of the nation's "best" home health agencies, which provide a range of skilled nursing care, therapies, instruction and medications to patients, often after a hospitalization.
The increasing demand for those services was the impetus to U.S. News & World Report's first-ever Best Home Health rankings, which were released Tuesday.
The study scored data from the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services and patient surveys to evaluate more than 12,000 providers that were rated as:
- High Performing: a "Best Home Health" distinction for exceeding expectations.
- As Expected: met the standards.
- Evaluated: did not meet the standards.
In Florida, 1,099 Medicare-certified agencies were assessed, and 103 earned a designation of "High Performing" – about 9.6%.
Another 543 were rated "As Expected," with 92 as "Evaluated" and 359 unrated due to insufficient data.
"No two agencies are identical, and we found that the Best Home Health agencies each excelled in different ways," said Ben Harder, chief of analysis and managing editor at U.S. News.
He said a pattern developed, however, showing the better providers promptly initiated care and excelled at preventing hospitalization.
In Florida, only 9.3% of patients cared for by "Best Home Health" agencies experienced a potentially preventable hospitalization, compared with a10.2% average statewide.
Across all agencies, more than 1 in every 25 patients experienced a delay of more than two days before home care began. But such delays were extremely rare among "High Performing" agencies – only about 1 in every 200 patients experienced a delay.
Nationally, 1,319 agencies were "High Performing," while 5,288 rated "As Expected."
Similar benchmarks were evident for the top-rated group:
- Care began on time for 99% of patients, compared with 94% nationally.
- 93% of patients improved in walking or mobility, versus 83% nationwide.
- Patients were more likely to regain independence by getting out of bed, bathing and managing medications.
Because states vary widely in the number of licensed agencies – from nearly 3,000 in California to 15 in Hawaii – comparing raw totals are misleading.
However, Florida's "High Performing" total ranks third nationally behind California (151 of 2,982 agencies) and Texas (133 of 1,869).
By percentage, Florida's share of high performers is comparable to California (about 5%) and Texas (about 7%), though still below the roughly 11% nationally (1,319 out of more than 12,157).
Several states, including Alaska, Montana and Vermont, had no agencies achieve the "High Performing" status, though each has fewer than two dozen providers.
For consumers, the U.S. News ratings are designed to be used alongside physician guidance to identify agencies with a documented track record of strong patient outcomes and satisfaction.
"For patients recovering from surgery or managing a chronic condition, the quality of care they receive at home can be the difference between a successful recovery and a costly rehospitalization," Harder said. "Families often must make crucial post-acute care decisions during stressful times and on very short notice. These new ratings are intended to serve as a helpful starting point."
Because, the methodology differs from CMS' star rating system, a provider's U.S. News designation may not match its CMS Quality of Patient Care or Patient Survey star ratings.
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