National Research Corporation and DecisionHealth a

LINCOLN, Neb., Nov. 1, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OCS HomeCare by National Research Corporation and DecisionHealth® are pleased to announce the 2013 HomeCare Elite™, a recognition program of the top-performing home health agencies in the United States. Yesterday, both organizations provided an exclusive preview of the list of winners at the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The formal announcement occurs today.

Now in its eighth year, HomeCare Elite identifies the top 25 percent of Medicare-certified home health agencies and highlights the top 100 and 500 agencies overall. The 2013 HomeCare Elite list can be downloaded on the National Research website. In addition, winning agencies can request access a complimentary media kit to promote their recognition .

Winners are ranked by an analysis of publicly available performance measures in quality outcomes, best practices (process measure) implementation, patient experience (Home Health CAHPS), quality improvement and consistency, and financial performance. In order to be considered, an agency must be Medicare-certified and have data for at least one outcome in Home Health Compare. Out of 9,969 agencies considered, 2,496 are elite. Read the HomeCare Elite data methodology for more information .

Recognizing these winners in November is especially significant due to National Homecare and Hospice month.

"The 2013 HomeCare Elite winners demonstrate a commitment to providing patient-centered care and serving as leaders in the home health community. Their success is a tribute that managing healthcare data and utilizing it for improvement initiatives lead to high quality care, and we recognize them for their outstanding achievements," said Mary Oakes, senior vice president of post-acute at National Research. "We are excited to showcase the winners at NAHC Annual Meeting and reward them for their well-deserved honor."

Out of the 2,496 elite agencies, 261 agencies are first-time winners. Only 190 organizations have been HomeCare Elite since the inception of the award in 2005. Of the 190, 10 agencies have been in the top 500 or higher for all eight years.

OCS HomeCare by National Research can be found at booth 1011 at the NAHC Annual Meeting.

About National Research Corporation

For more than 30 years, National Research Corporation (NASDAQ: NRCIA and NRCIB) has been at the forefront of patient-centered care. Today, the company's focus on empowering customer-centric healthcare across the continuum extends patient-centered care to incorporate families, communities, employees, senior housing residents, and other stakeholders. National Research clinical and healthcare analytics products and solutions identify a path to better quality outcomes and patient experiences for home health agencies.

Recognized by Modern Healthcare as the largest patient satisfaction firm in the U.S., National Research is dedicated to representing the true voice of patients and other healthcare stakeholders. This integration of cross-continuum metrics and analytics uncovers insights for effective performance improvement, quality measurement, care transitions, and many other factors that impact population health management.

For more information, call 800-388-4264, write to info@nationalresearch.com, or visit www.nationalresearch.com .

About DecisionHealth

For over 25 years, DecisionHealth has served as the home care industry's leading source for analysis, guidance and tools that improve revenue cycle performance, profitability and regulatory compliance. Agencies nationwide turn to DecisionHealth for education and training, coding and billing solutions, and ongoing expert guidance through its family of subscription-based services. DecisionHealth also certifies home health agency professionals in coding and OASIS-C through its Board of Medical Specialty Coding & Compliance, and provides custom consulting services to agency leaders through its DecisionHealth Professional Services unit. For product information, call 1-855-CALL-DH1 or visit www.decisionhealth.com

Scott Smith Director of Marketing National Research Corporation 800-388-4264