Home Care Quality Measures -
Percent of Patients Who Need Urgent, Unplanned Medical Care

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This percentage addresses the ratio of home care patients who need urgent, unplanned medical care. Lower percentages are considered better.

The measures on hospitalization and urgent care look at how services are used rather than the outcome of care provided.

Why is this important?

Patients may need to have urgent, unplanned medical care while they are getting home care because of a sudden downturn in their health or because of an injury. They may need to make an urgent trip to the doctor or emergency room, or a doctor may have to make an urgent house call.

In some instances, the need for unplanned urgent care may not be avoidable even with good home care. A home care provider may refer a patient to emergency care when this is the best way to treat the patient's current condition. However, some emergency care may be avoided if the home care staff is doing a good job at checking a patient’s health condition to detect problems early. They also need to check how well the patient is eating, drinking and taking their medicines, and how safe their home is. Home care staff must coordinate care, which involves communicating regularly with the patient, the patient’s informal caregivers, the patient’s doctor and anyone else who provides care for the patient.

The U.S. and state averages for this measure were provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).