Benchmarking in home health care: a collaborative approach.

Benchmarking outcome data and constructing "best practices" to meet patient care needs are emerging trends and new mandates on the horizon in home care. The Arizona Association for Home Care Continuous Quality Improvement Forum embarked on a journey to develop standards to define and monitor urinary tract infections in the home. A collaborative process among six home care agencies allowed for comparison of urinary tract infection rates and a beginning step toward establishing benchmarking standards in home care.