LINCOLN, NEB., Oct. 20, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OCS HomeCare by National Research Corporation and DecisionHealth® are pleased to announce the 2014 HomeCare Elite™, a recognition of the top-performing home health agencies in the United States. Yesterday, both organizations provided an exclusive preview of the list of winners at the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) Annual Meeting in Phoenix. The formal list of 2014 HomeCare Elite winners is now available.

Now in its ninth year, HomeCare Elite identifies the top 25 percent of all Medicare-certified agencies and highlights the top 100 and 500 agencies overall. The program is unique in that it is a service to the home health profession and completely complimentary recognition for agencies, which is not linked to any proprietary vendor database to be considered. The 2014 HomeCare Elite list can be downloaded on the National Research website. In addition, winning agencies can request access to a complimentary media kit to promote their recognition.

Winners are ranked by an analysis of publicly available performance measures in quality outcomes, best practices (process measure) implementation, patient experience (Home Health CAHPS® or HHCAHPS), quality improvement and consistency, and financial performance. In order to be considered, an agency must be Medicare-certified and have data for at least one outcome in Home Health Compare. Out of 9,996 agencies considered, 2,501 are elite. Read the HomeCare Elite data methodology for more information.

"The 2014 HomeCare Elite winners demonstrate a commitment to providing high quality home health care in their communities and we are pleased to be able to recognize them for their remarkable achievements," said Mary Oakes, Senior Vice President of Post-Acute at National Research. "We are especially thrilled that we can showcase their accomplishments at the NAHC meeting."

Marci Heydt, Product Manager for the post-acute care business group of DecisionHealth, also commented on the award.

"HomeCare Elite recognition is a significant acknowledgement. In today's healthcare ecosystem, it is imperative that our seniors have access to quality home healthcare in order to ensure better patient outcomes and improve overall cost, and therefore, home healthcare continues to remain an integral part of the care continuum. The winners of the HomeCare Elite Award are proving that a heightened focus on clinical outcomes, patient experience, and financial management lead to success," said Heydt.

Out of the 2,501 elite agencies, 389 agencies are first-time winners. 164 organizations have been HomeCare Elite since the inception of the award in 2005. Of the 164, six agencies have achieved Top 500 all nine years.

OCS HomeCare by National Research can be found at booth 919 at the NAHC Annual Meeting.

About National Research Corporation

For more than 30 years, National Research Corporation (Nasdaq:NRCIA) (Nasdaq:NRCIB) has been at the forefront of patient-centered care. Today, the company's focus on empowering customer-centric healthcare across the continuum extends patient-centered care to incorporate families, communities, employees, senior housing residents, and other stakeholders. National Research's healthcare analytics products and solutions identify a path to better quality outcomes and patient experiences for home health agencies.

Recognized by Modern Healthcare as the largest patient satisfaction firm in the U.S., National Research is dedicated to representing the true voice of patients and other healthcare stakeholders. This integration of cross-continuum metrics and analytics uncovers insights for effective performance improvement, quality measurement, care transitions, and many other factors that impact population health management.

For more information, call 800-388-4264, write to info@nationalresearch.com, or visit www.nationalresearch.com.

About DecisionHealth

For over 25 years, DecisionHealth has served as the home care industry's leading source for analysis, guidance and tools that improve revenue cycle performance, profitability and regulatory compliance. Agencies nationwide turn to DecisionHealth for education and training, coding and billing solutions, and ongoing expert guidance through its family of subscription-based services. DecisionHealth also certifies home health agency professionals in coding and OASIS-C through its Board of Medical Specialty Coding & Compliance, and provides custom consulting services to agency leaders through its DecisionHealth Professional Services unit. For product information, call 1-855-CALL-DH1 or visit www.decisionhealth.com.

CONTACT: Scott Smith
         Director of Marketing
         National Research Corporation
         800-388-4264
         scsmith@nationalresearch.com