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. 1994 Fall;16(1):109–130.

Table 3. Episodes, by Agency Type and Measure of Utilization: Medicare Home Health Care Utilization, 1992.

Measure of Utilization Voluntary/Private Non-Profit
(n = 36,289)
Government
(n = 7,676)
Facility-Based
(n = 36,072)
Proprietary
(n = 33,245)




Mean Median Mean Median Mean Median Mean Median
Mean Length of Episode (Days) 161.7
(31.5)
154.2 167.9
(36.2)
159.7 160.4
(30.5)
151.9 175.2
(42.5)
163.7
Percent of Episodes, Span of Service 120 Days or Fewer 72.2
(14.2)
74.6 70.3
(15.9)
72.0 73.4
(13.7)
75.9 66.4
(17.9)
69.1
 Actual Span of Service, Episodes 120 Days or Fewer 42.3
(7.6)
42.6 41.9
(8.3)
41.8 41.7
(7.2)
41.7 44.7
(8.5)
44.9
Percent of Episodes Exceeding 120 Days 27.8
(14.2)
25.4 29.7
(15.9)
28.0 26.6
(13.7)
24.1 33.6
(17.9)
30.9
 Actual Span of Service, Episodes Exceeding 120 Days 252.4
(51.8)
252.6 259.4
(63.5)
264.9 253.3
(50.7)
254.9 263.1
(57.8)
266.3
Mean Visits per Total Episode, All Episodes 45.2
(74.6)
20.0 37.9
(60.1)
16.0 39.1
(63.8)
18.0 70.9
(110.8)
31.0
 Mean Visits During First 120 Days, All Episodes 30.2
(33.8)
18.3 24.0
(27.7)
14.0 27.0
(30.6)
17.0 43.1
(45.8)
27.0
 Mean Visits After First 120 Days, All Episodes 15.0
(51.8)
0.0 13.9
(41.2)
0.0 12.1
(42.6)
0.0 27.8
(78.6)
0.0
Reimbursement per Total Episode, All Episodes $2,611
($7,787)
$1,225 $2,046
($3,257)
$904 $2,563
($3,968)
$1,252 $3,908
($6,110)
$1,753
 Reimbursement During First 120 Days, All Episodes $1,799
($6,896)
$1,109 $1,325
(1,578)
$790 $1,820
($2,052)
$1,139 $2,408
($2,593)
$1,560
 Reimbursement After First 120 Days, All Episodes $812
($2,817)
$0 $720
($2,183)
$0 $742
($2,609)
$0 $1,500
($4,329)
$0

NOTES: Numbers in parentheses are standard deviations of the means. Excludes home health agencies that were certified, terminated, or delivered 50 or fewer visits during the period and agencies whose type could not be determined from the Provider of Service file. Total number of episodes is 113,282.

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.