Table 5. Episodes, by Agency Size and Measure of Utilization: Medicare Home Health Care Utilization, 1992.
| Measure of Utilization | Small Agency (n = 33,621) |
Medium Agency (n = 20,910) |
Large Agency (n = 58,773) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
|
|
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| Mean | Median | Mean | Median | Mean | Median | |
| Mean Length of Episode (days) | 163.4 (35.5) |
153.4 | 173.3 (38.3) |
163.6 | 174.2 (37.4) |
166.4 |
| Percent of Episodes, Span of Service 120 Days or Fewer | 71.7 (15.9) |
74.8 | 67.8 (15.8) |
70.1 | 67.1 (15.4) |
69.4 |
| Actual Span of Service, Episodes 120 Days or Fewer | 41.9 (8.7) |
41.7 | 44.3 (6.3) |
44.2 | 45.2 (5.4) |
45.2 |
| Percent of Episodes Exceeding 120 Days | 28.3 (15.9) |
25.2 | 32.2 (15.8) |
29.9 | 32.9 (15.4) |
30.6 |
| Actual Span of Service, Episodes Exceeding 120 Days | 251.9 (60.8) |
254.8 | 268.3 (42.1) |
269.3 | 268.4 (40.3) |
269.7 |
| Mean Visits Per Total Episode, All Episodes | 42.1 (73.3) |
17.0 | 46.6 (77.9) |
20.0 | 56.3 (91.6) |
25.0 |
| Mean Visits During First 120 Days, All Episodes | 27.1 (33.0) |
16.0 | 30.3 (34.4) |
18.0 | 36.5 (39.8) |
22.9 |
| Mean Visits After First 120 Days, All Episodes | 15.0 (50.3) |
0.0 | 16.3 (54.2) |
0.0 | 19.9 (63.8) |
0.0 |
| Reimbursement Per Total Episode, All Episodes | $2,528 ($4,262) |
$1,100 | $2,739 ($4,375) |
$1,262 | $3,244 ($7,279) |
$1,527 |
| Reimbursement During First 120 Days, All Episodes | $1,669 ($2,019) |
$992 | $1,834 ($2,063) |
$1,132 | $2,156 ($5,686) |
$1,375 |
| Reimbursement After First 120 Days, All Episodes | $858 ($2,873) |
$0 | $904 ($3,000) |
$0 | $1,087 ($3,546) |
$0 |
NOTES: Agency size categories are defined as follows: Small = 20,000 or fewer Medicare visits, 1992; Medium = 20,001 to 34,999 Medicare visits, 1992; and Large = 35,000 or more Medicare visits in 1992. 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. Total number of episodes is 113,304.
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.