St. Andrews Home Health St. Andrews Home Health ranked one of the Top 100 providers in the U.S. OCS collects, evaluates and interprets healthcare information. Their HomeCare Elite Top 100 reflects the top 25 percent most successful Medicare-certified home health agencies.

On October 6, came the public announcement: St. Andrews Home Health had been selected for the 2007 HomeCare Elite Top 100 list of the most successful Medicare-certified home health providers in the country.

Last year, the agency made the OCS HomeCare Top 500 list - one of only four agencies in Maine. This year, St. Andrews Home Health is the only Maine provider in the Top 100.

OCS, is a market leader in healthcare information solutions, and is the organization that generates this list. This is the only performance recognition of its kind in the home health industry.

St. Andrews Home Health employs a team of homecare workers who add to the quality of life for those who are housebound and need the care of a nurse and therapist (occupational, speech or rehabilitation), individuals requiring care for an acute ailment/illness and those requiring assistance with daily tasks.

It could be said that the group of dedicated health professionals at St. Andrews Home Health are the reasons Home Health is on the Top 100 list.

"The key to our services is that each of us can do anything," said Kathy Bean, Registered Nurse (R.N.) and Executive Director at St. Andrews Home Health. "We take care of people with every type of need and create a personalized plan."

"Our home health staff has been with the agency a long time and that creates familiarity - for the patient and the staff," continued Bean.

During the course of care, a client may meet with nurses, home health aides and/or therapists. All will work closely with the lead professional responsible for each case. This level of collaboration and commitment creates a community of caring that is strengthened by the comparatively small size of St. Andrews Home Health to the other 99 Top 100 agencies.

"This is quite an honor for us," said Bean. "Many of the other providers on the list are larger agencies."

Yes, St. Andrews Home Health may be small, but the level of quality care residents of the Boothbay region receive is something to be proud of - for the medical staff and for the Boothbay region.

"Our size is part of the reason for our success. We all know each other very well and collaborate," said R.N. Lauri Andrews.

Andrews has been a registered nurse for 16 years and with home health for nine.

"Helping people and meeting their families, doing what we can to make their lives better, from a health standpoint, is why I am here," said Andrews.

The combined care, depending on the case, received by 30 to 40 clients per month includes (but is not limited to) case assessment, education about prescriptions and illness management, home health aid care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, assistance with social and emotional problems, assistance with daily routines and referrals for community resources.

To create the HomeCare Elite list of the top 25 percent of Medicare-certified home health care agencies, OCS uses public data published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

There were three performance categories: quality of care, quality improvement and financial performance, but the bulk of the final scoring revolved around quality of care.

"The HomeCare Elite has become the industry standard for identifying agencies that perform at the highest level," said Bill Bassett, Senior Director of Market Strategy at OCS. "Being noted as one of the top performers in the nation in this very competitive environment shows that an agency is dedicated to both high quality and strong financial performance."

Based on the St. Andrews Home Health model, collaboration between professionals about clients is key to performing at the highest level. Just ask registered nurse Faith Healy.

Healy has been with St. Andrews Home Health for 13-plus years. Healy believes that collaboration is the key component.

"We all work together and support each other while sharing the same goals for the client's improvement and healing," Healy said. "In home health care you have a much better idea about your client's situation and what will and will not work for them."

"Caring for our ill, frail and those at the end of their lives in their homes truly is a privilege for all of us," said Bean who wears both a nurse's cap and administrator's hat.

"This is a real testimony to the staff, the work that they do and the understanding they have of their clients," said St. Andrews Hospital and Healthcare Center CEO Peggy Pinkham.

"I believe one of the prime reasons our home health team made the list is the low numbers of clients that have to return to hospital," Pinkham said. "We also have the advantage of support; the team of therapists and social workers at St. Andrews facilitate continuity, collaboration and quality of care."

Pinkham said that Bean, who has been in the nursing profession for 20-plus years, has been a "pivotal piece, mentor and leader" of the home health agency.

"I couldn't be more proud of the team at St. Andrews Home Health," said Pinkham. "They are all exceptional."

St. Andrews Home Health is licensed by the state of Maine and certified by Medicare. Private care services are also available for long-term, on-going care. These private services may take the form of companionship, meal preparation, light housekeeping, personal care and private-duty nursing.

All services provided by St. Andrews Home Health are monitored for quality and supervised by professionals - all of whom are appropriately licensed, screened and insured.

For more information on home health care services, call the office at 633-1919 or visit the Web site: www.standrewshealthcare.org.