Recorded presentation

Elizabeth Goldstein, PhD¹, Andrew Martin Maxfield, PhD², Phyllis Nagy, MHS¹, Margaret Gerteis, PhD³, Myra Tanamor, MPP³, and Lauren Blatt³. (1) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 7500 Security Blvd, Baltimore, MD 21244, 410-786-6665, egoldstein@cms.hhs.gov, (2) Consultant, 1666 Kalorama Rd., NW, Washington, DC 20009, (3) Health Services Research and Policy Group, BearingPoint, 99 High Stret, Boston, MA 02110

Objective: The Home Health Quality Initiative (HHQI) is an effort by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to improve the quality of home health care. The first phase of this Initiative sought to promote awareness of publicly reported quality measures of home health agencies (HHAs) available at www.medicare.gov (Home Health Compare) among HHAs, home health referral sources, and consumers in eight intervention states. This study assesses the impact of the HHQI on home health agencies. Method: The HHQI evaluation was a quasi-experimental study: randomly selected HHAs (N=506) in the intervention states and six comparison states were surveyed before the intervention. Panel and independently sampled HHAs (503 total) were surveyed after the intervention. Results: Awareness was high in both the intervention and comparison states following the intervention and there was a significant increase in requests for technical assistance regarding the measures. Awareness of the HHQI and having received technical assistance were independently associated with reported quality improvement. Discussion: Information about the HHQI and the Web-based quality measures diffused widely among HHAs thru professional networks and trade publications. Awareness of the Initiative, the Home Health Compare Website, and the state-level technical assistance worked together to promote quality improvement among HHAs .

Learning Objectives:

• Identify facilitating and constraining factors in the diffusion of information about the quality measures among suppliers and consumers of those services.
• Assess the impact of publicly reported quality measures of home health services on the responses of home health agencies.

Keywords: Medicare/Medicaid, Evaluation

Related Web page: www.medicare.gov

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Centers for Medicare and MEdicaid Services
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation