Alacare Home Health and Hospice has been named a “Top Agency of the 2013 HomeCare Elite.”

The award recognizes Alacare Home Health as one of the top-performing home health agencies in the United States, according to OCS HomeCare by National Research Corporation, the leading provider of home health metrics and analytics, and DecisionHealth, publisher of the most respected independent newsletter in the home health profession, Home Health Line.

“We are humbled,” said John G. Beard, president of Alacare.  “This is such an incredible honor, but it wouldn’t have been possible without our staff. I am proud to have some of the most devoted, caring individuals on the Alacare team. They are the epitome of diligence and service, and they work tirelessly to provide the best quality of care to those we serve.”

Now in its eighth year, the HomeCare Elite identifies the top 25 percent of Medicare-certified agencies and highlights the top 100 and top 500 agencies overall. Winners are ranked by an analysis of publicly available performance measures in quality outcomes, best practice (process measure) implementation, patient experience (Home Health CAHPS®), quality improvement and consistency, and financial performance. In order to be considered, an agency must be Medicare-certified and have data for at least one outcome in Home Health Compare. Out of 9,969 agencies considered, 2,496 are elite.

“The 2013 HomeCare Elite winners demonstrate a commitment to providing patient-centered care and serving as leaders in the home health community,” said Mary Oakes, senior vice president of post-acute at National Research. “Their success is a tribute that managing healthcare data and utilizing it for improvement initiatives lead to high quality care, and we recognize them for their outstanding achievements. We congratulate Alacare Home Health and Hospice on being recognized as a top home care agency.”