VNA receives national award for home health care

    Visiting Nurses of Aroostook (VNA) announced that it has been named to the 2008 HomeCare Elite, a compilation of the most successful Medicare-certified home health care providers in the United States. This annual review identifies the top 25 percent of agencies, ranked by an analysis of performance measures in quality outcomes, quality improvement and financial performance. 
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Karen Donato
NATIONAL RECOGNITION — The Visting Nurses of Aroostook have been named to the 2008 HomeCare Elite, a compilation of the most successful Medicare-certified home health care providers in the United States. Representing the Houlton office are from left,  Teri Ann Miller, RN; Jean Reeves, volunteer co-ordinator; Cindy Reeves, office manager, HHA; Angela Cowperthwaite, intake R.N.; Mary Smith, HHA; and Carl Tingley, PTA.
    “The 2008 HomeCare Elite winners exemplify a commitment to providing their patients with optimum care while performing at the highest level,” said Nancy Buller, Senior Director of Marketing Communications at OCS, Inc. “We congratulate Visiting Nurses of Aroostook on being one of the top home care agencies in the country.”
    Saundra Scott-Adams, VNA Executive Vice President credits staff with the company’s ability to rank as one of the HomeCare Elite. She said, “Our staff members are committed to delivering the best home healthcare services as effectively and efficiently as possible. Despite our large geographic size and rural population our clinicians and office staff work hard everyday to ensure that our neighbors and friends in Aroostook County can receive excellent care in their home. This recognition proves we’re doing just that.”
    For almost 40 years Visiting Nurses of Aroostook has been providing services to their Aroostook County neighbors and friends. Last year their caring staff drove 714,089 miles to provide 37,178 visits to 1,264 patients and their families. Home-care services are paid for by public and private sources, or directly by patients and their families. Generous donations from individuals, businesses and towns allow for continued high quality service. A part of the Eastern Maine HomeCare Family, and a member of EMHS, Visiting Nurses of Aroostook work to ensure the highest quality home care and hospice is available to all who need it in the nearly 80 towns they serve. For more information about its home care and hospice services, please visit them at www.visitingnursesofaroostook.org or call 498-2578.
    “DecisionHealth would like to congratulate the top HomeCare Elite agencies that achieved excellent clinical and financial outcomes by providing quality care to their patients,” adds Marci Heydt, Executive Editor of DecisionHealth’s Home Health Line. The 2008 HomeCare Elite is the only performance recognition of its kind in the home health industry. The 2008 HomeCare Elite is brought to the industry by OCS, Inc., the leading provider of healthcare informatics, and DecisionHealth, publisher of home care’s most respected independent newsletter …home health line. The entire list of the 2008 HomeCare Elite agencies can be viewed by visiting the OCS web site at www.ocsys.com/HCE.
    OCS is the market leader in healthcare information solutions. By collecting, evaluating and interpreting healthcare information, we empower leaders with data-driven insight that helps optimize mission-critical decision-making. OCS combines the richness of the nation’s most comprehensive post-acute data warehouse with cutting-edge analysis tools, consulting services and custom technology solutions. Our information-based solutions facilitate providers, payors, industry analysts, consultants, Federal and state governments, medical products and pharmaceutical companies with advancing their missions using objective, independent information that is not available from other sources. Learn more at www.ocsys.com or call 888.325.3396.
    DecisionHealth® serves the clinical, business and regulatory needs of health care practitioners, providers and their administrative staff nationwide, including home health agencies. For more than 20 years, DecisionHealth has served as the industry’s leading source for news, analysis and instructional guidance with brand names such as Home Health Line, Home Care Outcomes, the Complete Home Health ICD-9-CM Diagnosis Coding Manual, Private Duty Insider and Diagnosis Coding Pro for Home Health. Our unique blend of award-winning information specialists, in-house journalists and unmatched access to health care executives, providers and their staffs results in news, analysis and solutions that have captured the attention of nearly 100,000 healthcare readers. For more information, please visit www.DecisionHealth.com or call 877.602.3835.