Silver Cross Home Health Ranked Among the Top 25 Percent of Providers in the U.S.

By Tracy Simons | Silver Cross Hospital

Silver Cross Home Health has been named a Top Agency of the 2014 HomeCare Elite™, a recognition of the top-performing home health agencies in the United States. Now in its ninth 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 9,994 agencies considered, 2,501 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.

[ Sponsored Feature by Silver Cross Hospital ]

“The 2014 HomeCare Elite winners demonstrate a commitment to providing high quality care in their home health communities and we recognize them for their remarkable achievements,” said Mary Oakes, Senior Vice President of Post-Acute at National Research. “We congratulate Silver Cross Hospital on being recognized as a top home care agency.”

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. She said, “Silver Cross is thrilled to be recognized for the eighth year in a row for our quality successes which are a direct result from our dedicated team of Home Health professionals. 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. In today’s healthcare ecosystem, it is imperative that our seniors have access to quality home healthcare in order to ensure better patient outcomes and improve overall cost, and therefore, home healthcare continues to remain an integral part of the care continuum. The winners of the HomeCare Elite Award are proving that a heightened focus on clinical outcomes, patient experience, and financial management lead to success,” said Marci Heydt, Product Manager for the post-acute care business group of Decision Health.

The entire list of 2014 HomeCare Elite agencies can be downloaded by visiting the National Research Corporation website at www.nationalresearch.com/homecareelite.

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 visit www.silvercross.org.