March 2003

HHS goes public with quality measures

Home health agency quality measures will soon be published in local newspapers and posted on the Internet, thanks to an initiative by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

HHS and the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services have already launched a similar project for the nation’s nursing homes, maintaining that if quality data is made available to consumers, health care providers will be more likely to put quality improvement on the top of their to-do lists.

Under the HHA initiative, 11 of the 41 outcomes and assessment information measures will be publicly reported – four relating to improvements in mobility, four relating to improvements in meeting basic daily needs, two connected to medical emergencies and one involving improvements in mental health. As part of the program, HHS will also work more closely with quality improvement organizations.

The program will start this month in eight states – Florida, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, Wisconsin and West Virginia – and go national by the fall of 2003.

Source: Medical Newswire

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