Nightingale Home Healthcare of Carmel, Indiana has been named among the top 500-homecare providers in the nation. The announcement came after release of a survey conducted on 8500 companies by 2006 Homecare Elite, which places Nightingale as the only Indiana agency (privately owned) in this category.

Three domains of performance were included in the calculation of the score - Quality of Care, Quality Improvement, and Financial Performance.

The Quality of Care indexes agencies' performance in each of the 10 public release Home Health Compare measures, representative of care provided in the last half of 2005 and the first half of 2006. The Quality Improvement index is based on changes in the 10 outcomes between data released in September of 2005 and that released in September of 2006. The Financial Performance measure represents the agencies' indexed profit margin from the 2005 CMS Cost Reports.

Each agency's performance in the three domains was compared against the performance of other organizations in their state and in the country. The three domains were combined into one overall score, using a weighting methodology that gives the greatest importance to Quality of Care. The top 25% of agencies in each region, both hospital-based and freestanding, were identified and added to the national list. Additionally, the top 100 and 500 agencies in the country, based on overall score, were identified and highlighted for further recognition.

Dr. Dev Brar, President of Nightingale, said he was pleased to receive this rating placing them in the top 25%, however his goal is to be rated in the top 100. Brar says he proposes to do this by continued monitoring of patient care and through services made available to the families and their clients. Minimally, patients and clients can expect personalized care when calling the home offices, which is the reason that Brar has opposed push button telephone service. "Our clients and their families should be able to talk to a real voice when they have inquires, not a telephone answering service that can become confusing and frustrating when calling to get help," says Brar.

However, answering the phone by real voices does not mean that Nightingale Home Healthcare is behind in technology. At-home monitoring and tele-medicine are just a couple of the services offered by Nightingale that earns them top ratings by peer groups in the homecare business. "Taking care of our clients by staying abreast of the latest technology is just a natural step in their care. Staying on top of the most current offerings in the industry means our clients are comfortable, improving, and content," concluded Brar.

The 2006 HomeCare Elite ™ is the inaugural compilation of the most successful home care providers in the United States.