Metrics Matter: Is Home Health Utilization Growing in Your State?

Is your agency keeping pace with the home care growth rates in your geographical region? How much growth can you get resulting just from the home health utilization growth in your state? Your growth can be highly dependent on the overall home health utilization in your state. Click here to see your state’s home health utilization growth.

Healthcare Market Resources, leaders in Home Healthcare Market Data, share a graph displaying Home Health Utilization Growth from 2003-2006

As demonstrated in the above graph, Healthcare Market Resources, Inc. studied the 2003-2006 growth in the Medicare Home Health Penetration Rate in the U.S. at the state level. This rate is defined by the number of patients served under the Medicare Home Health Benefit divided by the number of people participating in the Medicare fee-for-service program. In this case, the geography studied was at the state level. However, it is also useful to analyze and take into consideration home health penetration at the county level – which is included in the Healthcare Market Resources’ Home Health Market Profile Report Set.

Using this Healthcare Market Resources Medicare home health penetration growth data, we conclude the following:

  • There is a wide variation in home health penetration growth among states, with the highest penetration growth exceeding 55% in the four year period and the lowest at a negative growth rate of 12.0%.
  • The national growth rate in home health utilization of 19.7% (weighted national average based on patient volume) can be misleading for home health providers as they set a strategic course for growing their businesses. They would benefit more by looking at local home care penetration statistics when deciding whether to focus on growing the home health patient market or fighting for market share.
  • To benchmark themselves, home health agencies in states with higher home care growth rates should make sure that they are keeping pace. If they are not, these agencies will lose market share.
  • Agencies located in states with lower home care growth rates could have a significant opportunity to increase their patient base. Two ways to find previously unidentified home health patients are:
    1. Approach hospitals that have low levels of home care referrals and help them identify patients at the time of discharge that could benefit from home health services.
    2. Develop clinical programs to serve the needs of chronic “homebound” patients.

Click here or call us today at 215-657-7373 to learn more about this report and how we can help you determine the home health penetration growth rate for your geographical region.