Panhandle Home Health Earns Ranking as 2006 HomeCare Elite™

Martinsburg, West Virginia – Panhandle Home Health is pleased to announce their inclusion in the 2006 HomeCare Elite™, the inaugural compilation of the most successful home care providers in the United States.  This ground-breaking review names the Medicare-certified agencies whose performance measures in quality, improvement and financial performance are among the top 25% of providers nationwide.  Additionally, the 2006 HomeCare Elite indicates those providers ranked in the Top 100 and Top 500 of providers nationwide.

“We applaud the success of all the providers named to the 2006 HomeCare Elite,” said Bill Bassett, Senior Director of Market Strategy at OCS, Inc. “Being noted as one of the top performers in the nation in this very competitive environment shows Panhandle Home Health is dedicated to quality and performance.”

“As performance improvement, both clinical and financial, continues to be a critical metric for home care agencies, it’s wonderful that we now have an award that recognizes our industry’s highest achievers,” said Tonya Nevin, Executive Publisher of DecisionHealthTM.  “We congratulate Panhandle Home Health on being one of the top 25 percent best performing home care agencies in the country.”

“It is an honor to receive the designation of HomeCare Elite 2006,” stated Lisa Bivens, Administrator of Panhandle Home Health.  “We credit our quality assurance practices and performance improvement initiatives with our ability to rank as one of the HomeCare Elite.”  Panhandle Home Health provides premium in-home health services to residents of Jefferson, Berkeley, and Morgan Counties.  Their staff of licensed and credentialed professionals includes registered nurses, physical therapists, medical social workers, and home health aides.  For more information about Panhandle Home Health, please call 304-263-5680 or visit their website at www.panhandlehomehealth.org.

About OCS

Founded by a pioneer in the area of home care outcomes, OCS has provided organizations with performance improvement solutions since 1992. With over 1500 clients spanning all 50 states, OCS maintains the nation’s largest proprietary home care, hospice and private duty benchmark databases comprised of patient-level data across all business components - clinical, financial, operational, visit utilization and patient satisfaction. OCS uses this information to offer the providers, consultants, investors and product companies with relevant research and industry education, as well as business intelligence products and services. Endorsed by trade associations throughout the country and recommended by major MIS vendors, OCS is the premier quality management vendor for post acute care. For more information, access OCS’ web site at www.ocsys.com or call 206-325-3396.

About DecisionHealthTM

DecisionHealthTM serves the business and regulatory needs of health care practitioners, providers and their administrative staff nationwide.  Its flagship newsletters -- Home Health Line, Part B News, Medicare Compliance Alert and Inside the Joint Commission – are among the most recognized titles among business-to-business publishers.  It offers more than 50 subscription-based independent newsletters, magazines, books, websites and loose-leaf services that help readers make the best business decisions on issues affecting the business operations of Medicare and private-pay home health agencies; physician offices, including solo, group, specialty and faculty practices; hospitals, including inpatients, outpatient, quality assurance, facility management, MIS and compliance departments; durable medical equipment suppliers; clinical laboratories in physician officers, hospitals, and independent settings; and ambulatory surgery centers.

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