PRESS RELEASE
Availability of Q1 2018 Market Trends Report
SEPTEMBER 25, 2018
Data-driven insights into post-acute care trends made available to all healthcare providers at no charge
ATLANTA, GA – Excel Health, the leading source for current and complete post-acute outcomes data and performance analytics for the healthcare industry, announced today its quarterly Post-Acute Care Industry Trends Report that includes summary data through Q1 2018. The Quarterly Trends Report is made available to all healthcare providers for free in support of the company’s mission to facilitate the creation of high performing healthcare networks.
Excel Health customers are given full access to specific, detailed insights regarding all office-based physician, facility and agency data within 90 days of CMS delivering the data through its Chronic Conditions Warehouse. The data is automatically delivered through the solution to Excel Health customers, who represent some of the post-acute care industry’s most innovative providers, including four of the top 10 home health agencies and hospice organizations.
“Because our data represents the most current and complete picture of what happens outside the four walls of hospitals and physician offices, we are giving the industry great insights that can be used to improve the financial performance of care networks, increase operational efficiencies and drive greater productivity among their sales teams,” said Ian Juliano, CEO of Excel Health.
Key Observations
Excel Health’s public reports reveal national and state-specific trends every quarter. These reports pull from a subset of the company’s proprietary solution that includes detailed market share, performance analytics and quality metrics based on 100% of the most recent Medicare claims data across all care settings.
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With nearly 50% of patients still leaving inpatient stays without post-acute care instructions, the lack of awareness and affinity among providers to leverage the advantages post-acute offers continues to be a challenge that must be addressed through the sharing of evidenced-based data like that provided by Excel Health. Of the half that were discharged with instructions, most were pointed toward skilled nursing facilities and home health care.
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Of those patients who received home health instructions and adhered to those orders, there was a 35% reduction in readmissions. There is a wide variance in post-acute utilization, home health adherence and resulting readmissions on a state-by-state basis. Providers are encouraged to review the full report for visibility into the markets they serve.
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Hospice admissions continued to grow steadily, reporting a 4% growth over the same period in 2017 and consistent with growth in previous quarters. Hospice utilization rates also continued to steadily climb at 1.3%, consistent with previous quarters. From the Q1 2018 data, there are now 16 states where hospice utilization rates are greater than 50%, which indicates that physicians may be starting to work with families to engage hospice care over hospitalization when considering end of life care options.
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Home health admissions also experienced minor growth, reporting 1.8% growth over the same period in 2017. This is the second consecutive quarter of growth over 1% versus the last year, reversing the trend of flat to declining admissions, and is likely the outcome of one of our most severe outbreaks of the flu in recent history. Home health utilization as a percentage of total Medicare beneficiaries remained relatively flat once again.
About Trella Health (Formerly Excel Health)
