3. Basic data requirements for home health care.
At the present time, the national data available on home health services cannot be used to provide the most crude estimates of national programming efforts because of inconsistencies in definitions, data collected, and reporting periods. Among the challenges to those seeking to provide better information about home health care are definition and classification of home health care, its patients, and the comprehensive scope of services provided to both the acutely and chronically ill; development of practical data collection systems for small as well as large agencies; coordination of data to describe the continuum of care; design of practical patient assessment tools; measurement of true costs and of comparative value of home health care; measurement of need and demand; and establishment of goals and methods of program evaluation.
D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000145:classification / Q000600:supply & distribution; D007255:Information Services; D008134:Long-Term Care; D009934:Organization and Administration; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D011996:Records; D014481:United States