By CAROLYN FEIBEL

HERALD NEWS

Choosing a home health agency became much easier this week: A new government Web site reveals how agencies compare with one another on quality measures, such as how many of their patients become better at walking, bathing and other daily skills.

The data indicate that New Jersey offers good home care, with the state's agencies beating, on average, the national norms on 10 of 11 measurements.

The data apply only to Medicare-certified agencies that provide short-term care following illness or a hospitalization. Visitors can search for an agency by name, county or state through www.medicare.gov/HHCompare/Home.asp or by calling (800) MEDICARE.

"This can teach our agencies what our weak spots are and what else we can do," said Carol Kientz, executive director for the Home Care Association of New Jersey, a trade group for the industry. "We're pleased that New Jersey is looking as good as it is at this point, and delivering some quality patient outcomes."

In New Jersey, 83,000 patients received home care last year through Medicare, for a total of 1,886,000 home visits, Kientz said. "We also wanted to highlight the volume. We're often a kind of hidden asset in health care."

"I think it could be very helpful, and I think it gives us some recognition," said Anthony Lombardo, president and chief executive officer of Visiting Health Services in Totowa.

The agency, one of two based in Passaic County, had 10 quality measures that were better than both state and national averages. For example, 54 percent of patients were "confused less often" after home care with Visiting Health Services, compared with 48 percent in New Jersey and 40 percent nationally.

"You take our state as a model, you see it does well as far as quality of care," Lombardo said. He attributed the good outcomes to the fact that New Jersey must approve the opening of any new agency, which makes the market more efficient.

Other types of home care provide long-term assistance for frail patients, but the Medicare benefit is focused on moving patients back to self-sufficiency as soon as possible. It can include services such as rehabilitation, therapy, wound care and disease education.

On one measure, Visiting Health Services fared less well: It had 2 percent more patients who needed urgent, unplanned medical care. Lombardo said that was because his clients' illnesses were often more complex, though the national data is supposed to adjust for that difference.

The other Passaic County agency, Tri-Hospital Home Health, a department of Passaic Beth Israel Hospital, surpassed state and national averages on all 11 quality indicators. The data is self-reported as part of Medicare reimbursement, and will be updated quarterly.

In comparison, Valley Home Care in Paramus did slightly worse than the industry state averages on 10 of 11 measurements. Valley provides home care to clients in Bergen and Passaic counties.

"The consumers really need to be aware that this data is really only a small piece of the picture," said Donna Fry, Valley Home Care's president. "I would hate for folks to look at this information and say Valley's patients don't get better at bathing as well as other agency's patients, or Valley's patients don't do as well. Our patients do do well, and they do have very good outcomes."

Fry said consumers should also rely on doctor referrals and patients' own reports of their satisfaction.

Last November, the federal government set up a similar search engine for nursing home data. Next November, it will release quality data for hospitals.

The publication of the home care data is especially valuable because family members can't visit an agency like they can drop in on a nursing home, said Cari Miller, a spokeswoman for PRONJ, the state's health care quality improvement organization.

A family member can even pinpoint which measurement is most relevant: If the patient will need home help recovering from a hip replacement, an agency's data on walking, getting in and out of bed and using the toilet are more important than the ability to take medicines correctly by mouth, Miller said.

Miller said the Web site is just one tool for choosing a home health agency. Consumers should ask doctors and friends for recommendations. They can also visit with agency staff and interview the worker who will assist the patient at home, Miller said.

Reach Carolyn Feibel at (973) 569-7131. VHS Quality of Care Report