CMS Launches Home Health Care Quality Ratings Web Site

CMS today began posting online quality ratings of home health care agencies in eight states, with information from all other states to be added by fall, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reports. The Web site, Home Health Compare, will rate all Medicare-certified home health care agencies based on 11 quality measurements (Lade, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 4/30). The online statistics, updated monthly, will come from information that home health care agencies file with the federal government. Laura Friend, executive director of the West Virginia Council of Home Care Agencies, said, "This is a way to educate the public," adding, "It allows the public to look at agencies within their service area and compare them to the state and to a national reference number to see how well they're performing" (Saxton, Associated Press, 5/1). This is the first time the public will have online access to home health care ratings. Similar comparison tools for nursing homes and dialysis centers also are available on the CMS Web site, and data on hospitals will be posted in the future (Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 4/30). The initial eight-state trial includes Florida, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin (Associated Press, 5/1).