Rural Home Health Services – Resources

Rural Health Research Recap: Quality Star Ratings: Hospitals, Skilled Nursing Facilities, and Home Health Agencies
Examines the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating system among hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and home health agencies in 2021 and 2022. Features statistics including number of rural hospitals without a star rating with breakdowns by census region, and percentage of hospitals without star rating, with breakdowns by urban or rural location.
Author(s): Per Ostmo
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy: Home Health Care Services: Chapter 7
Discusses payment adequacy for home health care services. Features statistics on Medicare margins for home health agencies between 2019-2022 with breakdowns by urban and rural areas and the number of home health periods provided to rural beneficiaries.
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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2023 Technical Expert Panel Meetings: Expanded Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model Summary Report
Provides an overview of the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model and the Expanded HHVBP Model. Summarizes discussions and feedback from the Expanded HHVBP Technical Expert Panel in 2023, including health equity approaches, performance measures, measure weights, and performance reporting. Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Abt Associates, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Addressing the Direct Care Workforce Shortage: A Bipartisan Call to Action
Report discusses direct care worker shortages throughout the country. Details shortages of home health aids, certified nursing assistants, and residential care aids, among other direct care workers, and makes recommendations for decreasing shortages. Highlights some of the added barriers faced by rural communities.
Author(s): Lisa Harootunian, Kamryn Perry, Allison Buffett, et al.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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Research Institute for Home Care Chartbook 2023
Provides an overview of home health, including patient demographics and clinical profiles, organizational trends, the economic contribution of home health agencies, and patient outcomes. Includes charts and graphs throughout, as well as state-by-state data. Slide 11 highlights the rural-urban distribution of home health users.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: KNG Health Consulting, National Association for Home Care and Hospice, Research Institute for Home Care
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Medicare Payment Basics: Home Health Care Services Payment System
Overview of Medicare payments for home health care services. Includes information on rate-setting and payments for quality reporting and performance. Describes the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) and the home health resource groups (HHRGs) based on clinical and functional status.
Date: 10/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Medicare Payment Basics: Durable Medical Equipment Payment System
Overview of Medicare payments for medical equipment used to treat beneficiaries at home. Defines durable medical equipment (DME), details the DME fee schedule, and discusses the competitive bidding program (CBP) for DME. Includes information on adjustments to fee schedule payment rates outside of competitive bidding areas (CBAs).
Date: 10/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Aging in Place: The Vital Role of Home Health in Access to Care
Recording of a September 19, 2023, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Subcommittee on Health Care hearing on access to home health services and the role of home health in supporting aging in place. Features testimony from Carrie Edwards, Director of Home Care Services at Mary Lanning Healthcare in rural Nebraska, and Tracy Mroz, Associate Professor at the University of Washington and Investigator at the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center.
Additional links: Carrie Edwards, Mary Lanning Healthcare - Testimony, Tracy M. Mroz, University of Washington - Testimony
Date: 09/2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Finance, Subcommittee on Health Care
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Evaluation of the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model: Final Report
Evaluates the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model, which tests the impact of providing financial incentives to home health agencies in nine states: Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington. Examines how the financial incentives under the model influenced agency behavior. Describes impacts across key outcomes, including service utilization, quality of care, and patient experience, and examines the model's effects on access to care, health equity, and Medicare spending. Explores whether the model had unique impacts on access to home health care in rural areas.
Additional links: Appendices, Findings at a Glance
Date: 09/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, L&M Policy Research
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MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the Home Health Prospective Payment System for FY 2024
Comments on a July 10, 2023, Federal Register proposed rule related to Medicare payment policies for home health agencies. Includes comments on expanding the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model nationwide, wage index adjustments, the Hospice Special Focus Program (SFP), and more.
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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