Despite a decrease in hospital discharges to skilled nursing facilities in 2020, the rate of discharges to home health remained largely unchanged.
That was one of the results shared in the 2021 Home Health Chartbook, released Nov. 10, 2021, by the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation and the National Association for Home Care and Hospice. The Chartbook was developed by Avalere Health.
Initial Medicare patient destinations following hospitalization to SNFs was 16% last year, down from 19% in 2019. Home health was the destination for 13% of these patients in both years, based on Avalere analysis of Medicare Standard Analytic Files.
The Chartbook shows a drop in Part A home health episodes for patients following major hip and knee joint replacement — at 2.95% of all home health Part A claims in 2020, compared to 5.17% of these claims in 2019 and 5.72% in 2018.