In Home Health Compare, what is risk adjustment?
Risk adjustment is a scientific method of accounting for differences between home health agencies and how sick their patients are (called case-mix) to present a fairer comparison of the data. Risk adjustment takes into consideration certain patient characteristics, which may predispose the patient to a condition. Risk adjustment also accounts for home health agencies admitting practices, which may affect a home health agency’s overall patient case mix. This risk adjustment will help to level the playing field for home health agencies that treat a more acute or dependent patient population.
