Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA) is a national association that supports, promotes and advances nonprofit providers of high-quality home health, hospice and palliative care. These community-based providers also provide a full range of prevention and health care programs. VNAA members share a mission to provide cost-effective and compassionate care to some of the nation’s most vulnerable individuals, particularly the elderly and individuals with disabilities.

 

VNAA represents roughly 2,000 nonprofit home health and hospice agencies in 40 states. Of these, 150 are dues-paying members. Visit VNAA's website for information about policy issues impacting home health and hospice organizations, and for information about the value of VNAA Membership.

 

What is home health care?

On the care continuum, home health care is the setting in which skilled practitioners provide services to individuals and their families where they live. This care is provided to promote, maintain or restore health. Home health professionals cultivate patient engagement/self-management and provide nursing care; physical, occupational or speech-language therapy; home health aide support; and social services. Home health aims to ensure patients maximize independence, minimize the effects of the disability or illness, move smoothly through care transitions and remain in the home.

 

Who pays for home health care services?

Medicare, Medicaid, most health plans, the Veterans Administration, individuals and—in the case of nonprofit agencies, tax-deductible charitable contributions—reimburse home health care services. As the major payer of home health care services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has specific requirements for quality measurement and reporting by home health agencies.  Patients can find information about home health quality on the Home Health Compare Website.  Agencies can learn more about improving quality and reporting requirements on the IMPACT Act, 5-Star Best Practices  (members only) areas of the VNAA Blueprint for Excellence.

What is hospice and palliative care?

Hospice care provides medical services, emotional support, and spiritual resources for people who are in the last stages of a serious illness, such as cancer or heart failure. Hospice care also helps family members manage the practical details and emotional challenges of caring for a dying loved one. The goal is to keep patients comfortable and improve their quality of life, rather than prolong it.

 

Hospice programs offer services in your own home or in a hospice center. Some hospices also offer services in nursing homes, long-term care facilities, or hospitals. Patients can find home health and hospice programs in their community.

 

Who pays for hospice and palliative care services?

Medicare, Medicaid, most health plans, the Veterans Administration, individuals and—in the case of nonprofit agencies, tax-deductible charitable contributions—reimburse hospice and palliative care services.

 

What is the VNAA Blueprint for Excellence?

The VNAA Blueprint for Excellence is a free resource for workforce training and development that promotes quality improvement in home health and hospice care practice and care transitions. Much of the material on the VNAA Blueprint aligns with reporting requirements and value based purchasing initiatives established by CMS, specifically the IMPACT Act, 5-Star Best Practices,  and the Hospice Quality Reproting Program.  The Blueprint is designed to help agencies succeed in delivering high-quality, high-value care for patients. It provides research- and practice-based resources, tools and training modules all in one place. Because it is web-based, it is easy to use, easy to access and available any time.

 

How was the VNAA Blueprint for Excellence developed?

VNAA began the process by convening a panel of subject-matter experts—the Best Practices Work Group—that met regularly and developed a framework in a collaborative effort. The work group started with VNAA members identifying what they considered to be the best practices in home health care. They were joined by academics and other thought leaders, and together, they also assessed tools and resources that high-performing VNAA member organizations used. New modules have been added to the VNAA Blueprint under the guidance of expert work groups. The VNAA Blueprint for Excellence resources are regularly vetted by leading experts in the field. Visit our Contributors page for a list of experts participating in development of each module.

The VNAA Blueprint for Excellence is updated with new modules regularly.  Visit the Index page for the most current list of modules.

 

How does the VNAA Blueprint for Excellence work?

The VNAA Blueprint for Excellence supports workforce training and new skill development using consistent, validated, reliable processes, as well as providing valuable tools for organizations to standardize key practices and demonstrate their value to policymakers and payers. It also offers guidance to evaluate and measure high-quality home health care services.

Each topic area includes information in four categories:

• Tools and Critical Interventions
• Resources (References, Best Practice Definition, Background Information, Helpful Hints)
• Training Programs
• Measurement and Evaluation

Home care agencies are at varying levels of readiness for quality improvement and measurement activities. How does the VNAA Blueprint for Excellence account for these differences?

The VNAA Blueprint for Excellence’s stepwise, one-module-at-a-time approach allows it to serve the needs of every provider. It is customizable and flexible enough to align with existing workforce development programs. Moreover, this approach allows for multiple approaches to teaching. Some information is best delivered via individual online training, while clinical protocols may need hands-on instruction. The critical step is linking member agencies to the resources that are truly best practices.

 

Aren’t there plenty of similar resources available already?

No. In fact, VNAA is aware of no resource like it that is freely accessible. The VNAA Blueprint for Excellence is the first of its kind, available to home health providers, researchers, policymakers and payers to help them understand and advance quality practice.

Why is VNAA launching the VNAA Blueprint for Excellence now?

Changes in health care delivery demand new solutions--solutions VNAA can provide. As health care reform takes shape, accountable care models will demand financial and process collaboration among providers across care settings. Home health care providers are a critical link in the care continuum, and must be ready to demonstrate their value.

Large physician practices, specialty practices, health plans and hospitals are looking for ways to create partnerships that align like-minded, quality-focused providers in accountable care opportunities. As the voice for evidence-based, high-quality, efficient home health care providers, VNAA can support home health care providers to demonstrate readiness and a quality focus.

What does the VNAA Blueprint for Excellence bring to the home health and hospice sector?

It identifies and supports the use of evidence-based best practices and performance measures that demonstrate the critical role of home health care and hospice in cost-effective, efficient care delivery.

 

The VNAA Blueprint for Excellence represents a means for home health and hospice agencies to access best practices from leading home health care agencies, respected national quality organizations and academic experts who regularly contribute to the science supporting home health care practices. It features proven approaches and it also brings in newer research-based quality practices that have emerged in recent years.

 

What is the purpose of the VNAA Blueprint for Excellence?

VNAA Blueprint for Excellence is a pathway to best practices for home health care and hospice providers, a touchstone for the expanded value and role of home health and hospice in new delivery models. The VNAA Blueprint guides quality improvement and supports workforce development and consistency of care delivery, to achieve better health, better care and lower costs. The VNAA Blueprint strengthens care transitions and underscores the value of accountable, measurable, coordinated care in the home health and hospice settings.