Home Health & Hospice Week

Home care is the cheapest care setting for post-acute care, and now the industry has the stats to back up that long-held assertion. A study conducted by Dobson DaVanzo & Associates and commission by the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation shows that for post-acute care (within 60 days of discharge from an acute care hospital), "home healthcare is the least costly alternative, representing 38.7 percent of all Medicare episodes using formal post-acute care first settings, but comprising only 27.8 percent of payments."

For example: When looking at the average first setting Medicare payments for MS-DRG 470 (major joint replacement), home health costs $3,267 while skilled nursing facility care costs $8,981, inpatient rehab facility care costs $13,073, and long-term care hospital care costs $27,399, according to a summary of the study.

Links to the highlights and full study are at www.dobsondavanzo.com.