The future of the home health care industry is patient-centered care and quality outcomes.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is sharing with the world how your agency stacks up to the competition through its Patient Survey Star Ratings and Quality of Patient Care Star Ratings (formerly HHC Star Rating). These ratings come from OASIS patient outcomes data and CMS' Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HHCAHPS) Patient Experience of Care Survey. This means homecare providers need to start focusing on patient education and engagement initiatives to ensure better outcomes and compliance, sustain high ratings and a good reputation, and continue to receive referrals for post-acute care.

Quality Care in Home Health: Improving Patient Outcomes and Agency Scores provides home health agencies with the tools and tactics they need to address the measures and improve publicly reported survey results through training, systematic practices, and bedside clinical behavior. Expert J'non Griffin, RN, MHA, WCC, HCS-D, COS-C provides general patient education and engagement strategies, as well as staff training tips to improve the patient experience and achieve positive HHCAHPS scores and star ratings.

This cost-effective solution provides strategies for better outcomes in the measures indicated in the star rating and HHCAHPS survey, including:

- Timely initiation of care
- Education for medications
- Improved ambulation
- Improved bed transferring
- Improved bathing
- Pain control
- Dyspnea improvement
- Rehospitalization avoidance

This book will help homecare agencies to:

- Identify strategies to improve patient engagement
- Improve care processes for better patient outcomes
- Recognize methods and opportunities to increase patient satisfaction
- Identify strategies for staff training to improve the care process
- Identify how patient satisfaction scores could affect agencies in the future
- Improve HHCAHPS survey scores and CMS star ratings
- Involve the clinical team in process improvement

Table of Contents

Overview of general patient education and engagement strategies

Bettering patient outcomes

- Timely initiation of care
- Patient education for medications
- Improving ambulation
- Improving bed transferring
- Improving bathing
- Pain control
- Improving dyspnea
- Avoiding rehospitalization

HHCAHPS

- Professionalism
- Patient communication
- Patient education on meds, pain, and home safety
- General tips for overall patient satisfaction