Sifter

One of the most significant developments in health care today is the emergence of home health services as an alternative to hospitalization or placement in a skilled-nursing facility. It’s far less expensive and it allows people, especially many elderly, to stay in their homes much longer. And it works—if it’s done well. But how to know whether a home health agency is good at its job? One way is to go online to www.medicare.gov. There, statistics collected by Medicare are collected and organized by location. Here’s what we found in three categories (of 11 listed) for Chico.

1: Name of agency

2: Percentage of patients who get better at walking or moving around

3: Percentage of patients who get better at bathing

4: Percentage of patients who have to be admitted to a hospital

Enloe Medical Ctr. HHA 34% 60% 18%

Butte Home Health & Hospice 40% 72% 17%

Feather River HHA (Paradise) 38% 67% 17%

Golden Valley HHA (Oroville) 33% 59% 12%

Sunplus Home Health (Corning) 47% 64% 21%