HealthEast Home Care Ranked Among Top 25% of Home Health Providers in Country


ST. PAUL, MN -- (MARKET WIRE) -- February 12, 2007 -- HealthEast Home Care today announced that it has been named to the 2006 HomeCare Elite, the inaugural compilation of the most successful home care providers in the country. This groundbreaking review names the Medicare-certified agencies whose performance measures in quality, improvement and financial performance are among the top 25% of providers nationwide. Additionally, the 2006 HomeCare Elite indicates those providers ranked in the Top 100 and Top 500 of providers nationwide.

Cathy Barr, HealthEast Home Care Senior Director, credits four things -- an organizational commitment to community, a team of rehabilitation and nursing professionals dedicated to compassionate care, a comprehensive approach to quality improvement, and the integration of powerful technology -- with the company's ability to rank as one of the HomeCare Elite. She said, "From point of care testing and in-the-field care plan management to personal emergency response devices and telemedicine, HealthEast Home Care offers patients a true 'hospital without walls' setting in the comfort of their own homes. We're neighbors treating neighbors, and our ability to ask questions and respond quickly to people's needs helps us create healing environments that lead to excellent patient outcomes."

In the performance analysis of quality of care, Barr specifically notes outstanding results in categories including patient ambulation and transfers, medication management, urinary incontinence, and improvement of surgical wound status.

"We applaud the success of all the providers named to the 2006 HomeCare Elite," said Bill Bassett, Senior Director of Market Strategy at OCS, Inc. "Being noted as one of the top performers in the nation in this very competitive environment shows that HealthEast Home Care is dedicated to quality and performance."

"As performance improvement, both clinical and financial, continues to be a critical metric for home care agencies, it's wonderful that we now have an award that recognizes our industry's highest achievers," said Tonya Nevin, Executive Publisher of DecisionHealth. "We congratulate HealthEast Home Care on being one of the top 25% best performing home care agencies in the country."

The 2006 HomeCare Elite is the first performance recognition of its kind in the home health industry. The 2006 HomeCare Elite is brought to the industry by OCS, Inc., the leading provider of healthcare informatics and DecisionHealth, publisher of home care's most respected independent newsletter Home Health Line. The data used for this analysis was complied from publicly available information. The entire list of the 2006 HomeCare Elite agencies can be viewed by visiting the OCS web site (www.ocsys.com).

About HealthEast

HealthEast Home Care is a member of the HealthEast Care System, a community-focused, non-profit healthcare system that provides innovative technology, compassionate care, and a full spectrum of family health services. HealthEast includes Bethesda Hospital, St. John's Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital and Woodwinds Health Campus as well as outpatient services, clinics, pharmacies and transportation services. Practicing financial responsibility, HealthEast is the largest, locally owned healthcare organization in the Twin Cities' East Metro with 6,700 employees and 1,400 physicians on staff.

About OCS, Inc.

OCS is a healthcare information company with the nation's largest and most comprehensive set of measures spanning clinical outcomes, financial performance, resource utilization, patient satisfaction and operational indicators for Home Care, Hospice and Private Duty programs; their provider clients consistently rank in the top one-third of all healthcare organizations in the country.


About DecisionHealth

DecisionHealth™ serves the business and regulatory needs of healthcare practitioners, providers and their administrative staff nationwide. Its flagship newsletters -- Home Health Line, Part B News, Medicare Compliance Alert and Inside the Joint Commission -- are among the most recognized titles among business-to-business publishers.

Contact Information: Contact: Lynn Sadoff HealthEast Care System (651) 326-3590 Email Contact