Market Research Letter: March/April 2010
Providing insights for home care and hospice
March/April 2010
In This Issue
Feature Article: STRATEGIC FORECASTING FOR HOSPICE & HOME HEALTH: How to Use Three Different Forecasting Methods
Metrics Matter: Utilization of Medicare Home Health Services by African Americans
Ask the Home Care Data Guru: What Percentage of Medicare Hospital Patients Are Referred to Home Care?
Forecasting is great way to use your Healthcare Market Resources’ data from previous years to effectively plan for the future. In this month’s feature, we show you how to use three different methods of forecasting: simple moving average, weighted moving average, and trendlines. Learn what could work best for you.
Rich Chesney
President, Healthcare Market Resources, Inc.
P.S. If you don’t have Healthcare Market Resources’ data from previous years, be sure to check out our special promotion for deep discounts on data from 2004 through 2007. 2008 REPORTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE.
- Data from 2004, 2005, and 2006 is now available at a 75% discount
- Data from 2007 is now available at a 50% discount
Feature Article: “STRATEGIC FORECASTING FOR HOSPICE & HOME HEALTH: How to Use Three Different Forecasting Methods”
How many Medicare patients will you have on service a year from now? What about 2 years from now? By creating forecasts—mathematical predictions based on your organization’s past performance and market trends—you can significantly improve your business planning for the future. In this month’s feature, we discuss how to use three different quantitative methods of forecasting: simple moving average, weighted moving average, and trendlines. Read more.
Metrics Matter: “Utilization of Medicare Home Health Services by African Americans”
As you look for opportunities to grow your business, have you considered the home health needs specific to ethnic populations in your local market? In this month’s Metrics Matter, we look at the utilization of Medicare home health services by African Americans. Read more.
Ask the Home Care Data Guru
Looking for some hard-to-find data? In Ask the Home Care Data Guru, we share questions from our subscribers – and our answers. Send us your question today!
Q: What percentage of Medicare hospital patients are referred to home care?
A: While national studies put this figure between 13% and 16%, there is considerable variation geographically, by diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) and among individual hospitals. Historical referral patterns and availability of alternative sites are two factors that affect this percentage on a case-by-case basis. Hospitals with sub-acute or rehab units, for example, may have a bias in their discharge process to keep beds in those units full. Read the entire answer.