Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services reveals first star ratings for home health agencies

Listen to this article

For the first time, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has given star ratings to the home health agencies that it lists on its public information website, enabling consumers to evaluate the quality of their performance at a glance. In New Jersey, 48 providers received scores on a five-star scale.The ratings were based on nine quality measures already included among the Home Health Compare database’s 29 measures, the agency said in a news release Thursday.

These included information from patient assessments of their care and Medicare claims, such as how often patients have improved at tasks such as walking or getting in and out of bed, as well as hospital admissions and timeliness of treatment.

Of the 48 New Jersey providers in the database, seven topped the Garden State ratings with a 4.5-star mark, while only one came in below three stars, with a score of 2.5.

Click here to subscribe to the NJBIZ Daily and other newsletters

Nationwide, 239 providers achieved 5-star marks, while only six received a 1-star score. The database includes more than 12,000 providers overall.

“Adding star ratings to Home Health Compare is another step forward in our continuing efforts to empower consumers by providing more information to help them make health care decisions, while also encouraging providers to strive for higher levels of quality,” Dr. Patrick Conway, acting principal deputy administrator for CMS and deputy administrator for innovation and quality, said in a prepared statement.

Among the 48 New Jersey providers, these seven received 4.5-star ratings from CMS:

• Bayonne Visiting Nurse Association, Bayonne;
• Cape Visiting Nurse Association, Cape May Court House;
• Cedar Crest Village Inc. Home Health Department, Pompton Plains;
• Community VNA, Somerville;
• Patient Care New Jersey, Clifton;
• Robert Wood Johnson Visiting Nurses, North Brunswick;
• Visiting Nurse Association of Englewood, Englewood.

These 11 received 4-star marks:

• AtlantiCare Home Care, Egg Harbor Township;
• Bayada Home Health Care, Millville;
• Chrill Visiting Nurse Association, Verona;
• Hunterdon Medical Center Home Health, Flemington;
• Kennedy University Hospital Inc. Home Health Care, Voorhees;
• Memorial Home Health, Pennsville;
• Promise Care N.J., Jersey City;
• Seabrook Home Health Agency, Tinton Falls;
• Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey, Tinton Falls;
• VNA of Somerset Hills — Home Health, Basking Ridge;
• Warren County Public Health Nursing Agency, Washington.

These 16 earned 3.5-star scores:

• Atlantic Home Care & Hospice, Morristown;
• Barnabas Health Home Care — Essex, West Orange;
• Barnabas Health Home Care — Ocean, Toms River;
• Bayada Home Health Care, Whiting;
• Holy Redeemer Home Care, Runnemede;
• Holy Redeemer Home Care N.J. North, Elizabeth;
• Home Health Services of Hackensack, Hackensack;
• Inspira Home Care, Vineland;
• Mercer Care, Bordentown;
• Meridian Home Care — Monmouth County, Neptune;
• Patient Care Medical Services, West Orange;
• Princeton Homecare Services, Princeton Health Care, West Windsor;
• Valley Home Care Inc., Paramus;
• Virtua Home Care at West Jersey, Mount Laurel;
• Visiting Health Services of New Jersey, Totowa;
• Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey, Morristown.

These 11 received a 3-star rating:

• Bayada Home Health Care, Cherry Hill;
• Bayada Home Health Care, Jersey City;
• Bergen Care Home Health, Westwood;
• Community Nursing Service, Vineland;
• Holy Name Home Care, Teaneck;
• Holy Redeemer Home Care N.J. Shore, Swainton;
• JFK At Home, Clark;
• Meridian Home Care — Ocean County, Brick;
• Moorestown Visiting Nurse Association, Moorestown;
• Visiting Nurse Association of Saint Clare’s, Sparta;
• VNA Home Care of Mercer County, Trenton;

This one earned a 2.5-star score:

• Virtua Home Care — Community Nursing Services, Mount Laurel.

And these two received no score, due to either insufficient data or newness of certification:

• KAQ Home Care, Phillipsburg;
• PSA Healthcare, Sparta.

To view the complete Home Health Compare data sets, click here. The ratings will be updated quarterly, CMS said, and an additional star rating based on another patient-experience survey is in the works.

ALSO ON NJBIZ:

Barnabas Health CEO Ostrowsky speaks on tax ruling — and his thoughts may be surprising

Several N.J. hospitals, health systems earn Most Wired honors for 2015

Judge allows Stockton to place Showboat back on market, report says