Table 1. Medicare Home Health Care Utilization, by Measure of Utilization: 1992.
| Measure of Utilization | Mean | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Length of Episode (Days), All Episodes | 157.4 (88.7) |
120.0 |
| Percent of Episodes, Span of Service 120 Days or Fewer | 74.1 — |
— |
| Actual Span of Service, Episodes 120 Days or Fewer | 42.2 (29.2) |
37.0 |
| Percent of Episodes Exceeding 120 Days | 25.9 — |
— |
| Actual Span of Service, Episodes Exceeding 120 Days | 264.6 (122.0) |
233.0 |
| Mean Visits Per Total Episode, All Episodes | 50.3 (84.3) |
21.0 |
| Mean Visits During First 120 Days, All Episodes | 32.6 (37.2) |
19.3 |
| Mean Visits After First 120 Days, All Episodes | 17.8 (58.4) |
0.0 |
| Reimbursement Per Total Episode, All Episodes | $2,938 ($6,043) |
$1,334 |
| Reimbursement During First 120 Days, All Episodes | $1,952 ($4,337) |
$1,200 |
| Reimbursement After First 120 Days, All Episodes | $985 ($3,262) |
$0 |
NOTES: Numbers in parentheses are standard deviations of the mean. Excludes home health agencies that were certified, terminated, or delivered 50 or fewer visits during the period.
SOURCE: Medicare home health agency claims for all episodes beginning in 1992 for a 5-percent sample of beneficiaries extracted from the Health Care Financing Administration's Standard Analytic File system.