Two local home health branches have received high marks from the federal level.

LHC HomeCare of South Alabama’s Andalusia and Opp offices received 4.5-star ratings in quality and 5-star ratings in patient satisfaction from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ 5-Star Quality Rating System.

According to the data released, the Opp and Andalusia home health providers achieved the highest rating possible in the patient satisfaction category.

The star rating system was instituted by CMS as part of its home health compare website to provide a “tool for consumers to use when choosing a home health care provider.”

The system ranks providers in two categories: quality of patient care and patient satisfaction.

The Alabama average for quality is 3.5-star and the national average is 3-star.

LHC HomeCare of South Alabama is part of LHC Group, a national provider of post-acute care services with more than 10,000 employees operating more than 350 locations in 25 states.

“The entire LHC Group organization extends our congratulations to the team at LHC HomeCare of South Alabama for this outstanding recognition of quality and commitment to serving our patients,” said Keith Myers, LHC Group chairman and CEO. “The CMS star ratings are among the health care industry’s best indicators of who is providing best-in-class service. We couldn’t be more proud to have so many outstanding teams helping us carry our mission forward.”

Officials said that in total 29 of LHC’s provider locations achieved the highest rating in at least one of the two categories.

According to research released by Jeffries Group LLC, a New York-based global investment bank and institutional securities firm that provides financial advisory services, LHC Group achieved the best patient satisfaction ratings among its publicly traded competitors. Their report also found that publicly traded companies – including LHC Group – continue to outperform their privately held peers.

The Jeffries report called LHC Group’s ratings gains “noteworthy” among its peers, and further stated: …“we believe these ratings will become increasingly important as participants in alternative payment models (bundles, ACOs) shift referrals to high quality providers.

 

“Updated Medicare Stars data support our view that publicly traded home nursing providers deliver better care quality and should gain market share as quality becomes the driver of referrals.”