The at-home care specialists at North Georgia Home Health Agency, an Amedisys company have been honored among the 2012 HomeCare Elite — a compilation of the top-performing home health agencies in the United States — for the fifth time.

HomeCare Elite is the only performance recognition of its kind in the home health industry. Now in its seventh year, HomeCare Elite identifies the top 25 percent of U.S. home health agencies and further highlights the top 100 and top 500 agencies overall.

“The 2012 HomeCare Elite winners demonstrate a commitment to providing patient-centered care and serving as leaders in the home health community. Their success offers data-driven proof of being well-managed and high quality care providers to hospitals, managed care organizations, ACOs, and other potential referral partners across the health care continuum,” said Susan L. Henricks, president and COO of National Research Corporation, the parent company of OCS HomeCare.

“Again, this year, we updated our methodology to reflect the rapidly evolving quality-focused health care landscape and national value-based purchasing trends. We congratulate North Georgia Home Health Agency on being one of the top home care agencies in the country.” Home health care provides treatment for an illness or injury and assists patients who are returning home from a hospital stay, managing a serious or chronic disease, or dealing with multiple diagnoses.

This at-home care can be provided to patients who are currently under the care of a physician, who are in need of a skilled health service, and who are considered to be homebound.

“Our mission is to provide exceptional at-home care to the communities we serve, and our team of clinical specialists takes great pride in the quality of care and service they provide,” said Kate Jones, RN, chief clinical officer of Amedisys Home Health and Hospice.

“Making the 2012 HomeCare Elite list is an honor that recognizes our exceptional care teams and their commitment to meeting the greatest needs of our patients in the comfort of their own homes.”

To make the list, North Georgia Home Health Agency was ranked by an analysis of publicly available performance measures in quality outcomes, process measure implementation, patient experience, quality improvement, and financial performance.

“HomeCare Elite recognition continues to gain importance given the increased regulatory mandates and the threat of shrinking reimbursement revenue.

“Home health agencies that have earned recognition among the HomeCare Elite demonstrated that they not only can adapt to an evolving marketplace, but continue to excel in clinical, patient experience, quality improvement, and financial outcomes,” said Marci Heydt, product manager for the post-acute care business group of DecisionHealth.

For more information about HomeCare Elite, visit www.nationalresearch.com.

For more information about Amedisys Home Health and Hospice, visit www.amedisys.com.