Media Release

For: Immediate Release
Date: May 29, 2008

Rhode Island Department of Health Releases First Annual Statewide Report on Patient Satisfaction with Home Health Care

Rhode Island is First State in Nation to Require Public Reporting of Home Health Patient Satisfaction Data

Today, the Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH) released the results of the first annual statewide survey on patient satisfaction with home health care in Rhode Island.  Rhode Island is the first state in the Nation to collect these data. The results of the survey indicate that overall satisfaction averaged 90 out of 100 points for more than 2,500 patients who received care from 49 Rhode Island home health agencies.  This level of overall satisfaction is similar to that found in patient surveys performed in a national sample of 420 home health agencies during the same time period.   By type of service, patients were most satisfied with the services they received from therapists, such as physical, speech, and occupational therapists and social workers (93 points out of 100), and least satisfied with their dealings with office staff at the agencies (85 points out of 100).

“This first home health care survey is one more tool we now have to measure customer satisfaction with long term care,” said Director of Health, David R. Gifford, MD, MPH. “The survey gives the public information to make the right choices about their care and lets home health agencies know what they can be doing better to address the needs of their clients.”

Two reports are available on HEALTH’s Health Care Quality Program website. The 2007 Home Health Satisfaction Report provides information for consumers to use when choosing a home health agency, and contains information about patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes (where available) for each individual home health agency. The Supplemental Information details the survey process and comparative results that demonstrate how Rhode Island nursing homes performed compared to other home health agencies using the same survey firm, Press Ganey Associates, of Indiana. Together, these reports promote transparency for consumers and quality improvement efforts in Rhode Island home health agencies.

The reports were created for the Health Care Quality Performance Measurement and Reporting Program, legislated in Rhode Island in 1998. The legislation requires public reporting of clinical performance measures and patient satisfaction for all Rhode Island licensed health care facilities and providers.

This project is the result of collaboration by all of the licensed home health agencies in Rhode Island; the Rhode Island Partnership for Home Care; the Rhode Island Department of Health, and the Department of Health's contractor, Quality Partners of Rhode Island. The patient satisfaction survey was developed and administered by Press Ganey Associates.