Updated quarterly from CMS data

Home Health Patient Outcomes Tracker

Patient outcomes are the most objective measure of home health agency quality. This tracker identifies agencies with the highest hospital readmission rates, highest emergency room utilization, and lowest functional improvement scores — using CMS's publicly reported outcome measures.

Key metrics explained: Hospital readmission rate measures how often patients are re-hospitalized during or after a home health episode. ER use rate tracks emergency department visits without admission. Functional improvement measures whether patients improve in mobility, bathing, and daily activities. Higher readmission and ER rates indicate worse care; higher improvement rates indicate better care.

0

Readmission >18%

583

ER use >15%

69

Low functional improvement

5,959

Total agencies tracked

Highest Readmission Rates

Agencies with the highest percentage of patients re-hospitalized during or after their home health episode. The national average is approximately 15–16%. Rates above 18% are a significant red flag.

Highest ER Use Rates

Emergency department visits without subsequent hospitalization. High ER use often indicates inadequate symptom management or poor patient education — problems a competent home health agency should prevent.

States With Worst Outcomes

Number of agencies with hospital readmission rates above 18%.

About This Data

Patient outcome measures are sourced from the CMS Home Health Compare dataset, derived from the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) that agencies are required to submit for every patient episode. Hospital readmission and ER use rates are risk-adjusted by CMS to account for patient acuity and case mix, making cross-agency comparisons meaningful.

Data is refreshed quarterly by CMS. Functional improvement measures (mobility, bathing, bed transfer, breathing, wound healing, and medication management) reflect the percentage of patients who showed measurable improvement at discharge compared to the start of care.

Read our full methodology →

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