Homecare Update
(From the March 2025 Issue of MedStat)
Nationwide Children's Homecare Growth
As Homecare expanded its individual service areas in 2024, the number of pediatric patients receiving visits, supplies and services in their homes increased. This growth furthered our mission to give all children the best life possible at home by providing expert, collaborative, family-centered care. Referral numbers increased in all seven services listed below:
- Home Medical Equipment (HME): 29,483 deliveries
- Hospice: 5,641 patient days
- Infusion Pharmacy: 185,268 doses dispensed
- Intermittent Skilled Nursing: 7,738 visits (1,808 in the Toledo region)
- Palliative Care: 3,192 visits
- Private Duty Nursing: 61,365 hours
- Therapy Services: 20,452 visits (4,312 in the Toledo region)
As Homecare grows, the team continues to implement Quality Improvement (QI) initiatives within our service lines, which are key to sustaining successful growth and maintaining low error rates. For example, implementing QI tracking with a multi-disciplinary team within Homecare has resulted in improved accuracy with HME deliveries, even as volumes continue to rise. From 2019 through 2024, QI tracking results show a significant drop in delivery error rates from 9.28 per 1,000 deliveries in 2019 to just 1.7 per 1,000 deliveries in 2024. This improvement is particularly noteworthy given the substantial increase in annual deliveries, growing from 18,079 in 2021 to 18,892 in 2022 (4.4% growth), 22,158 in 2023 (17.28% growth) and reaching 29,483 in 2024 (33.05% growth). Despite this rapid expansion, driven in part by our reach into all counties in Ohio, error rates have continued to decrease, underscoring the effectiveness of our QI efforts.
For general questions regarding Homecare services, email Carolyn.Figi@NationwideChildrens.org. For referrals, call Homecare at (614) 355-1100 or (800) 466-2727, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., excluding national holidays.