A new home health classification method.

The Home Health Care Classification Method used with the assessment instrument and scoring methodology can predict resource requirements in terms of three cohorts of time and volume of nursing and all provider visits. This HHCC Method can be used to predict care requirements for planning purposes, including the staffing and provider mix, to determine the scope and type of services, to identify the fiscal needs and constraints, and to fulfill other administrative needs. It also can track the home care process, measure patient outcomes for home care quality assurance, facilitate efficient documentation, and form the basis for predicting costs of home health care. The coding schemes developed for the Classification of Home Health Care Nursing Diagnoses and Interventions can be used not only to code but also statistically to analyze home care nursing data. This classification provides the mechanism to link nursing diagnoses to nursing interventions. It can be used in other research studies and has the potential for the design of computer systems for home health care.