Annual cuts to home health payments are impacting patient access to care, according to new third-party analysis released by the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare (PQHH) on Sept. 23.
The analysis from CareJourney by Arcadia looks at home health fee-for-service claims from 2022 and 2023.
It shows:
- In 2023, access to home health resulted in 34% lower hospital readmission rates.
- In 2023, 1/3 of Medicare patients (35.7%) directed to home health after a hospitalization did not access home health.
- Patients receiving home health within 7 days of discharge saw substantially lower hospital readmission rates compared to those who went home without services.
- Patients who did not access home health after hospital discharge had a 41% higher mortality rate than those who gained access to home health.
- The home health referral rejection rate has increased significantly (from 49% in 2020 to 71% in 2022), which means more patients are forced to stay in the hospital and are not able to move easily from hospital to home.
- “Annual cuts to home health have diminished the provider community’s ability to meet patient need, transfer patients home following hospitalization and ensure home health services are accessible to Medicare beneficiaries across the country,” says Joanne Cunningham, PQHH CEO, in a statement.