HANCOCK – UP Health System Home Care & Hospice Portage today announced that it has been named a top agency of the 2019 HomeCare Elite, a recognition of the top-performing home health agencies in the United States. For 14 years, HomeCare Elite has annually identified the top 25% of Medicare-certified agencies and highlighted the top 100 and top 500 agencies overall.

UP Health System Home Care & Hospice Portage, a local provider of home health services in Hancock, is a home health partner of UP Health System – Portage and part of a joint venture partnership with LHC Group, a national provider of in-home healthcare services operating in 35 states and the District of Columbia.

“HomeCare Elite status is one of the in-home healthcare industry’s most respected and meaningful indicators of excellence, and we congratulate our team members at UP Health System Home Care & Hospice Portage for achieving this distinction,” said Keith G. Myers, LHC Group’s chairman and CEO. “Every day they deliver high-quality, compassionate, and efficient care to patients and families in their community. Their unwavering dedication to service is the reason LHC Group continues to lead our industry as the in-home care provider of choice for patients and our hospital partners around the nation.”

The ranking is developed by ABILITY® Network, a leading information technology company helping providers and payers simplify the administrative and clinical complexities of healthcare. It is sponsored by DecisionHealth, part of the H3.Group.

HomeCare Elite agencies are determined by an analysis of performance measures in quality outcomes, best practices implementation, patient experience (HHCAHPS), quality improvement and consistency, and financial health. In order to be considered, an agency must be Medicare-certified and have data for at least three outcomes in Home Health Compare. Out of 8,818 agencies considered, 2,207 are recognized on the 2019 HomeCare Elite winners list overall.