Many patients who receive home health care are recovering from an injury or illness. They may need help from a person or equipment (like a cane) to walk safely. If they use a wheelchair, they may have difficulty moving around safely in their home. Getting better at walking or moving around in a wheelchair may be a sign that they are meeting the goals of their care plan or that their health status is improving.
Most people value being able to take care of themselves. In some cases, it may take more time for them to walk and move around themselves than to have someone do things for them. But, it is important that home health care staff and informal caregivers encourage patients to be as independent as possible. Home health staff also can evaluate patients' needs for, and teach them how to use, special devices or equipment to help increase their ability to perform some activities without the assistance of another person.
If patients can walk with little help, they are more independent, feel better about themselves, and may stay more active. This can positively affect their overall health. Patients' ability to walk and move around may help them live independently as long as possible in their own home.
Some patients will lose function in their basic daily activities even though the home health care agency provides good care.
This is one of 41 OASIS-based measures for which Medicare-certified home health agencies receive performance reports from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The reports cover Medicare and Medicaid adult non-maternity patients and compare each agency's rates to national reference rates and to the agency's own rates in the previous year. The reports provide home health agencies with information they can use to improve quality of care by targeting care practices that influence specific patient functioning and health status, as part of a comprehensive quality improvement approach.
This measure is also one of ten Home Health Quality Initiative measures; a resource to help consumers compare home health agencies, and they are intended to motivate home health agencies to improve care and to inform discussions about quality between consumers and clinicians.
