Two area hospice organizations are among the better caregivers in the United States, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is reporting.
VNA of Northwest PA and Community Nurses Home Health and Hospice Inc. scored above the national average when it comes to treatment preferences, values addressed, pain screening, pain assessment, shortness of breath screening and treatment and opioid treatment, a recently released Hospice Compare website reveals.
“I think it’s a testament to the dedication of quality end-of-life care,” Pennsylvania Homecare Association Chief Operations Officer Jennifer Haggerty told The Era Wednesday.
It came as to no surprise to see that hospice organizations around the state would rank well compared to the national average, she said.
“We know our members are committed. There are a lot of requirements included in the industry,” Haggerty said.
Both the VNA of Northwest PA and Community Nurses Home received a 100 percent scoring based on patients or caregivers being asked about treatment preferences like hospitalization and resuscitation at the beginning of hospice care and patients or caregivers being asked about their beliefs and values at the beginning of hospice care.
“I’m very, very pleased with our numbers,” said Mary Ann Chesebro, clinical services manager of VNA of Northwest PA.
VNA of Northwest PA, which has eight patients, serves McKean, western Potter, northern Cameron, northern Elk or eastern Warren counties, while Community Nurses serves Elk, Cameron and McKean counties and parts of Clearfield, Jefferson and Potter counties.
For other organization measurements, VNA of Northwest PA received a 94.7 percent based on patients who were checked for pain at the beginning of hospice care; 100 percent for patients who were checked for shortness of breath at the beginning of hospice care; and 95.7 percent for patients who got timely treatment for shortness of breath.
Meanwhile, Community Nurses Home Health and Hospice’s score for patients who were checked for pain at the beginning of hospice care was 97.1 percent; patients who got a timely and thorough pain assessment when pain was identified as a problem was 88.5 percent; patients who were checked for shortness of breath at the beginning of hospice care was 100 percent; patients who got timely treatment for shortness of breath was 98.2 percent; and patients taking opioid pain medication who were offered care for constipation was 100 percent.
Overall, Pennsylvania’s hospices scored 93.8 percent while the national average score is 92.6 percent. In fact, the state’s score in asking patients about their treatment preference, such as hospitalization and resuscitation, is 99.1 percent, while the national score is 98.3 percent.
For the measure on asking patients or caregivers about their beliefs and values, Pennsylvania scored 96 percent and the national score is only 93.6 percent.
“Searching for hospices is now easier than ever using this website,” Pennsylvania Homecare Association officials said in a prepared statement. “They are able to search for all Medicare-approved hospice providers that serve their city or zip code, and then find agencies and compare their quality with other local agencies.”
Hospice information can be accessed by visiting https://www.medicare.gov/hospicecompare/
A total of 191 hospices in Pennsylvania are licensed by the state Department of Health.
