At its July meeting, the Massachusetts Quality and Cost Council (QCC) put on its agenda for the coming year a plan to place CMS Home Health Compare data on its consumer education website. The state’s My Health Care Options website was established by the Mass QCC as a resource for patients and families looking to make informed health care choices. The majority of the data on the site to date have been on hospital and medical practice quality and costs, with a new update of these data posted in January 2011.
Home health care was identified in the QCC’s Three Year Reporting Pla as “a vital service to the aging population and an important area of information for consumers.” The Council is exploring options to download the CMS data in a consumer friendly format, as opposed to simply placing a CMS website link. The costs and feasibility of this are being reviewed prior to the Council’s next meeting.
Are consumers or other referral sources using CMS data now? Will it get more visibility on the state’s website? What are your thoughts?
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