Background

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in conjunction with the Home Health Quality Improvement Organization Support Center (HHQIOSC), recently launched a national Home Health Quality Improvement (HHQI) Campaign targeting home health agencies (HHA) and other key stakeholders.

This one-year campaign seeks to unite the home care community under the shared vision of reducing avoidable hospitalizations to improve the quality of patient care. State Associations and Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) are combining their resources as "Local Area Networks for Excellence" (LANEs) to support providers in this initiative. In New York State, IPRO, the Continuing Care Leadership Coalition (CCLC), the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS), the Home Care Association of New York State, Inc. (HCA), and the New York State Association of Healthcare Providers (HCP) have partnered in this proactive state-wide campaign to assist providers in reducing acute care hospitalization (ACH) rates.

For more information and to register your HHA as a Campaign Partner, visit the National Campaign Web site http://www.homehealthquality.org. Within two to three weeks after registration your agency will receive a Welcome Package.

Agencies that enroll as Campaign Partners will have access to monthly electronic intervention packages consisting of educational tools and resources, best-practice guidelines, success stories and other resources targeting reduction of avoidable acute care hospitalization. These intervention packages, available via download from the Campaign Web site, will provide resources to agency staff across clinical disciplines, as well as support staff, administration and management. Every month your agency will receive an email notifying you of the availability of the intervention package on the Campaign Web site. The first intervention package is scheduled for availability in March 2007.

On a monthly basis, registered agencies will also receive hard copies of individualized, agency-specific state and national benchmarking reports that will include actual and risk-adjusted monthly ACH rates, along with case mix characteristics of hospitalized patients.

This initiative is a valuable opportunity for providers to focus on reducing ACH rates while demonstrating agency-wide commitment to quality and improved patient care. Participation is free and requires no additional data collection!

HHAs are encouraged to monitor the best practice strategies selected for implementation to ensure success with staff compliance. The monthly intervention packages will be an efficient way to keep quality improvement personnel, management and clinical field staff up-to-date with best practice strategies for reducing ACH rates.