McLeod Home Health has been named as one of the Top 500 Home Health agencies in the country. The only performance recognition of its kind in the home health industry, the 2016 Top 500 HomeCare Elite® acknowledgment places McLeod Home Health in the top five percent of home health agencies in the United States. McLeod is one of only four home health agencies in South Carolina to achieve Top 500 status, a recognition it has maintained for five years.

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 9,406 agencies considered, 2,353 are recognized as elite.

The ranking is developed by ABILITY® Network, a leading information technology company helping providers and payers simplify the administrative and clinical complexities of healthcare; and sponsored by DecisionHealth, publisher of: Home Health Line, The Complete Home Health ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Coding Manual and The Home Health Coding Center.

“Improving quality of care and the patient experience continue to underpin a rapidly evolving healthcare environment,” said Christine Lang, Senior Director, Product Management, for ABILITY Network. “At the same time tracking, measuring and interpreting data that support these efforts is becoming more complex. The 2016 HomeCare Elite winners have demonstrated the highest-quality care in their communities, which is a remarkable achievement. We congratulate McLeod Home Health on being one of the top 500 home care agencies in the country.”

Tracie Thigpen, Administrator of McLeod Home Health, credits her seasoned staff, their commitment to excellence, and their understanding of OASIS with the agency’s ability to achieve recognition as one of the HomeCare Elite. OASIS, the Outcome and ASsessment Information Set is a group of data elements that represent core items of a comprehensive assessment for an adult home care patient; and form the basis for measuring patient outcomes for purposes of outcome based-quality improvement (OBQI). OASIS is also a key component of Medicare’s partnership with the home care industry to foster and monitor improved home health care outcomes.

“We also greatly appreciate our physicians who refer their patients to us and help us ensure that together we provide the highest level of quality care to the patients we serve,” said Thigpen.

Marci Heydt, Senior Content Manager, DecisionHealth, added, “We are proud to recognize the Top 500 HomeCare Elite agencies for demonstrating a commitment to improving quality patient care at low costs. The clinical best practices and data tracking skills these agencies have implemented can position them for future success in government programs such as value-based purchasing and star ratings,” said

In addition to its Top 500 HomeCare Elite ranking, McLeod Home Health has received 4.5 stars for the Home Health Quality of Patient Care Star Rating, a rating earned by only 8.3 percent of the 9,000 home health agencies measured. In South Carolina, only 2 percent of home health agencies achieved this rating. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Home Health Compare website includes a 5 star rating system to measure agencies’ relative, overall performance on nine of the 29 quality measures posted on Home Health Compare.

About McLeod Home Health
McLeod Home Health has provided comprehensive home health services in northeastern South Carolina since 1995. The professionally trained staff works with the patient, physician and family to develop individualized home health care plans for patients of all ages. The home health staff includes registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, physical and speech therapists, home health aides, nutrition consultants and medical social service consultants to address each patient’s individualized care plan. McLeod Home Health serves patients in Florence, Darlington, Dillon, Lee, Marion, Horry, Sumter, Chesterfield, Marlboro, and Clarendon counties 24-hours a day, seven days a week. For more information, call (843) 777-3050 or 1-(800) 768-4556.

About ABILITY Network
ABILITY® Network is a leading healthcare information technology company helping providers and payers simplify the administrative and clinical complexities of healthcare through innovative applications and data analytics. ABILITY is headquartered in Minneapolis with principal offices in Boston and Tampa. For more information, visit www.abilitynetwork.com or write to resources@abilitynetwork.com.

For more information about HomeCare Elite, call (888) 572-4009, write to HomeCareElite@abilitynetwork.com or visit www.abilitynetwork.com/hce.

About DecisionHealth®
For over 30 years, DecisionHealth has served as the home care industry’s leading source for analysis and tools to improve revenue cycle performance, profitability, regulatory compliance and quality patient care. Agencies nationwide turn to DecisionHealth for education and training, coding and billing solutions, and ongoing expert guidance through its family of online products, print solutions, and live training events. DecisionHealth also certifies home health agency professionals in ICD-10 coding and OASIS-C2 through its Board of Medical Specialty Coding & Compliance (BMSC), and provides custom consulting services to agency leaders through its DecisionHealth Professional Services unit. For product information, call 1-855-CALL-DH1 or visit www.decisionhealth.com.