Community Corner

Silver Cross Home Health Ranked in Top 25% of Providers Nationally for 6th Straight Year

By Tracy Simons, Silver Cross Hospital

Silver Cross Home Health announced that it has been named a Top Agency of the 2013 HomeCare Elite, a recognition of the top-performing home health agencies in the U.S. 

Now in its eighth year, the HomeCare Elite identifies the top 25 percent of Medicare-certified agencies and highlights the top 100 and top 500 agencies overall. Winners are ranked by an analysis of publicly available performance measures in quality outcomes, best practice (process measure) implementation, patient experience (Home Health CAHPS), quality improvement and consistency, and financial performance. In order to be considered, an agency must be Medicare-certified and have data for at least one outcome in Home Health Compare. Out of 9,969 agencies considered, 2,496 are elite.

The award is sponsored by OCS HomeCare by National Research Corporation, the leading provider of home health metrics and analytics, and DecisionHealth, publisher of the most respected independent newsletter in the home health profession, Home Health Line.

Find out what's happening in Mokenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The 2013 HomeCare Elite winners demonstrate a commitment to providing patient-centered care and serving as leaders in the home health community," said Mary Oakes, senior vice president of post-acute at National Research. "Their success is a tribute that managing healthcare data and utilizing it for improvement initiatives lead to high quality care, and we recognize them for their outstanding achievements. We congratulate Silver Cross Hospital on being recognized as a top home care agency.”

A sponsored article by Silver Cross Hospital.

Find out what's happening in Mokenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Donna Yack, Director of the Continuum of Services and Home Health Care at Silver Cross Hospital credits strong dedication to teamwork and high quality standards with the company’s ability to rank as one of the HomeCare Elite. 

“Silver Cross is thrilled to be recognized for the sixth year in a row for our quality successes which are a direct result from our dedicated team of Home Health professionals," she said. "By continuing to enhance the quality of home healthcare we provide to our patients, we can ensure to deliver the best healthcare experience to our patients in the comfort of their own homes.”

“HomeCare Elite recognition is a significant acknowledgement. The shift from fee-for-service to pay-for-performance payment models is reshaping the healthcare profession," said Marci Heydt, Product Manager for the post-acute care business group of DecisionHealth. "And home health is proving to be an integral part of the continuum. In the face of value-based purchasing and care delivery model changes, the metrics that make up HomeCare Elite methodology shine an accountable light on an industry that may be the lynch pin to achieving affordable care at home."

The entire list of 2013 HomeCare Elite agencies can be downloaded by going to the National Research Corporation website.

About Silver Cross Home Health

Silver Cross Home Health, an affiliate of Silver Cross Hospital, offers comprehensive in-home services for patients who are ready to complete their recovery in the comfort of their own homes. Our expert staff provides a full range of skilled services including wound care, catheter care, infusion therapy, disease and medication management. 

Also included in our scope of services are physical, occupational and speech therapy.  When therapy is incorporated into the patient’s plan of care, an improvement in the patient’s functional and safety status as well as a marked independence relating to their activities of daily living is often evident. Staff carefully monitor the patient’s progress, identify and report any condition changes to the patient’s physician. 

Patients and their caregivers are taught how to manage the patient’s healthcare needs independently which allows the majority of Silver Cross Home Health patients to remain in their home after the patient’s individual goals have been met.  Silver Cross Home Health is Medicare Certified, licensed by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the first home health agency in the area to be accredited by the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Silver Cross Home Health is also a member of the National Association of Home Care and the Illinois Home Care Council. For more information, call (815) 300-7124 or go to www.silvercross.org.

About National Research Corporation

For more than 30 years, National Research Corporation (NASDAQ: NRCIA and NRCIB) has been at the forefront of patient-centered care. Today, the company’s focus on empowering customer-centric healthcare across the continuum extends patient-centered care to incorporate families, communities, employees, senior housing residents, and other stakeholders. 

Recognized by Modern Healthcare as the largest patient satisfaction measurement firm in the U.S., National Research is dedicated to representing the true voice of patients and other healthcare stakeholders. This integration of cross-continuum metrics and analytics uncovers insights for effective performance improvement, quality measurement, care transitions, and many other factors that impact population health management.

National Research is headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. For more information, call 800-388-4264, write to info@nationalresearch.com, or go to www.nationalresearch.com.

About DecisionHealth

For over 25 years, DecisionHealth has served as the home care industry’s leading source for analysis, guidance and tools that improve revenue cycle performance, profitability and regulatory compliance. Agencies nationwide turn to DecisionHealth for education and training, coding and billing solutions, and ongoing expert guidance through its family of subscription-based services. DecisionHealth also certifies home health agency professionals in coding and OASIS-C through its Board of Medical Specialty Coding & Compliance, and provides custom consulting services to agency leaders through its DecisionHealth Professional Services unit. For product information, call 1-855-CALL-DH1 or go to www.decisionhealth.com


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here