Research Examines Differences in Rural and Urban Care for Home Health Agencies
A recent study from researchers at New York University examines the disparities in quality performance between rural and urban home health agencies between 2014 and 2018.
The findings show that rural health agencies consistently begin home care quicker than in urban settings, although urban health agencies have performed better at preventing hospitalization and emergency room visits for home care patients.
The study also shows that rural agencies are performing better on the care process than urban agencies. Strong ties between rural home health agencies and local hospital researchers were key pieces in facilitating timely initiation of home health care to rural patients.
The urban agencies did, however, perform better at preventing hospitalizations and emergency room visits during home health care over time than rural agencies, and the results suggest that rural patients are in poorer health overall.
The research also provides ways to reduce rural-urban disparities through approaches like evaluating better methods for rural home health agencies to travel to and from patients’ homes.
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