11/03/2003 - NEW YORK LAUNCHES ITS ROLE IN FEDERAL HOME HEALTH QUALITY INITIATIVE

Consumers Now Have Quality Data for Making More Informed Health Care Decisions

Lake Success, NY, November 3, 2003 - IPRO today announced the launch of the Home Health Quality Initiative (HHQI) in New York State to provide consumers with access to new, objective quality information about home health agencies in the state. The initiative is a national effort by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to improve the quality of care given to millions of Americans who use home health care services across the country.

"A key step towards improving quality is getting consumers the information they need to make informed health care choices," said CMS Administrator Tom Scully. "By generating and publishing quality data, we are helping consumers to make decisions that best meet their needs and creating incentives for home health agencies to further improve quality."

Currently, 169,553 elderly and disabled Americans receive care from New York's 201 Medicare-certified home health agencies annually. IPRO, an independent Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) under contract with CMS, will work together with local home health agencies to improve the quality of care and help consumers better use the quality performance data.

IPRO is providing statewide training programs and technical support to Medicare-certified home health agencies in implementing Outcome-Based Quality Improvement (OBQI) projects, interpretation of the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) outcome reports, identification of target outcomes for quality improvement, process of care investigations, and development, implementation and monitoring of plans of action.

The Home Health Quality Initiative is part of an ongoing HHS Quality initiative that also focuses on improving the quality of care in nursing homes and hospitals. The data released today involve 11 quality measures chosen from among 41 Outcomes and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) measures that have been used by home health agencies since 1999. They include four measures related to improvement in getting around, four measures related to improvement in meeting basic daily needs, two measures related to medical emergencies, and one measure related to mental health improvement.

"These quality measures should be used as an additional resource when making decisions about a home health agency or assessing the quality of care that a loved one is receiving," said Scully. "Use these measures as an opportunity to discuss the care provided by the home health agency and address not only the areas of care covered by the quality measures but all services as well."

On November 3, 2003, CMS will publish advertisements in newspapers around the country that will include some of the quality data. The complete quality data, along with other consumer information on home health agencies in New York are available at Home Health Compare located on Medicare's consumer Web site, www.medicare.gov, and through Medicare's 24-hour help line at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).

Established in 1983, IPRO is one of the largest and most experienced health care quality evaluation organizations in the US serving more than 2 and a half million Medicare beneficiaries in New York State by focusing on the quality of health care delivery in hospitals, health plans, physician offices, nursing homes and now home health agencies.

The Home Health Quality Initiative is a four-pronged effort that consists of:

Regulation and enforcement activities conducted by state survey agencies and CMS,
Improved consumer information on the quality of care provided by home health agencies,
Continual, community-based quality improvement programs for home health agencies,
Collaboration and partnership to leverage knowledge and resources.

CMS consulted with HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to identify appropriate quality measures for this initiative. The measures were chosen with input from measurement experts and a diverse group of home health professionals, clinicians and stakeholders.