Minnesota has a reputation of providing quality health care to its citizens. But, according to an analysis of federal quality measures, our home health care agencies rank abysmally low in comparison to those in other states. It’s an alarming finding, but I’m not sure how accurately it reflects the true state of affairs. For one thing, the data was gathered from only 160 Medicare-certified home care agencies in Minnesota. There are hundreds more agencies that provide personal care services throughout the state and many aren’t Medicare-certified because they don’t need to be. Any discussion of home care quality should encompass the whole range of providers. Second, I’d like more information about the quality measures themselves. The article notes that the measures reflect “the percentage of patients who get better at walking, bathing, taking medications and other measures of well-being”. Okay, but how do the agencies track this data? Does a visiting nurse fill out a form during a monthly visit? Does the nurse know the person well enough to accurately comment on whether improvement is occurring?
I also find it interesting that owners of the higher-performing agencies quoted in the article emphasize their strong relationships and familiarity with their clients. One of the most common complaints about home health agencies is that their inability to retain staff results in inconsistent care for the person. That was definitely one of my complaints about the nursing agencies I used and it was a contributing factor to my decision to stop using agencies.
I also read today that Minnesota ranks third in the nation in the number of preventable falls that occur. I always think Minnesota is such a great health care state, and it is, but there are so many things that could be improved…
It’s a low-paying job that doesn’t provide insurance and sometimes requires some training. I have trouble finding and keeping PCA’s because I can’t pay a lot, and I don’t need that many hours. I hire my own people and don’t go through an agency like this, but I can see where there’d be a problem.
Also, in agencies, the difference between what the workers make and what the people on top make appears to be very different. There’s a number of problems that need to be addressed. The study may be somewhat bogus, but hopefully the results lead to improvements (rather than a push for institutional care, which would be my fear).