70 percent of home health care patients were ages 65 and older

Medicare was the primary payment source for most home care patients (52 percent), followed by Medicaid (20 percent) and private sources (17 percent).

Heart disease (11 percent), diabetes (8 percent), cerebral vascular disease (7 percent), COPD (5 percent), malignant neoplasms (5 percent), congestive heart failure (4 percent), osteoarthritis and allied disorders (4 percent), fractures (4 percent), and hypertension (3 percent) are among the most prevalent admission diagnoses for home health care patients.

Most patients received medical/skilled nursing services (75 percent), followed by personal care (44 percent) and therapeutic (37 percent) services.

Over half of home care patients received help from the agency with at least one activity of daily living (ADL) (51 percent); of those patients receiving help with ADLs, 83 percent received help with bathing or showering.

Average length of service since admission was 312 days; patients with an admission diagnosis of pneumonia had the shortest length of service (111 days), whereas patients with essential hypertension had the length of service (515 days).
Source: National Center for Health Statistics