LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. – Dearborn County Hospital’s Home Health & Hospice is getting high marks in numerous patient care categories when compared to almost 800 similar home health organizations around the nation.
Press Ganey Associates, Inc., (PGA) based in South Bend, Indiana, summarizes data from surveys on patients regarding the health care they are receiving. The most recent survey compilation was for April through September 2014.
PGA announced that DCH had been given ratings of 90 percent or higher by patients in five categories.
Patients were asked to rate various aspects of their care on a scale ranging from very poor to very good.
Receiving very high marks in the latest Press Ganey survey for DCH Home Health & Hospice were: telling the patient about care and services, 99 percent; getting help or needed advice, 96 percent; treating the patient with courtesy and respect, 94 percent; explanation of medications, 91 percent; and as gentle treatment as possible, 91 percent.
Similar results ranging from 91 to 100 percent were posted in the previous term from October 2013 to March 2014.
In a separate study by Strategic Healthcare Partners (SHP) of Santa Barbara, California, the percentage of DCH Home Health or Hospice patients requiring rehospitalization for congestive heart failure (CHF) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was lower than both national and state averages.
For example, a report compiled between January and March 2014 indicated that while 18 percent of those with heart failure nationally and almost 17 percent statewide had to be readmitted, only one out of the eight DCH patients (12.5 percent) with the illness required readmission last winter.
“I am very proud of my staff. They have worked extremely hard to lessen the need for rehospitalization among our patients,” said Ricardo Horn, R.N., B.S.N., Director of DCH Home Health & Hospice.
“Some of the preventive measures in our CHF/COPD program include home nursing assessments, educational health visits and weekly follow up telephone calls. The hospital has been working system wide to create a 20 percent reduction in hospital readmissions for all health causes.”
Dearborn County Hospital implemented its Home Health Department in 1977 and currently averages 500 patients a year.
