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Today's Date: February 21, 2008

St. Joseph’s Mercy Home Health receives top-25 percent national ranking 

     HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Mercy Home Health of St. Joseph’s Mercy Health Center was recently named among the 2007 HomeCare Elite, a compilation of the most successful Medicare-certified home health care providers in the United States.

     This annual review identifies the top 25 percent of agencies throughout the nation, ranked by an analysis of performance measures in quality outcomes, quality improvement and financial performance. The 2007 HomeCare Elite, whose data analysis was compiled from publicly available information, also indicates the home health facilities that are included in the top 100 and top 500 of providers nationwide.

     “We applaud the success of all the providers named to the 2007 HomeCare Elite list,” said Bill Bassett, Senior Director of Market Strategy at OCS Inc. “Being noted as one of the top performers in the nation in this very competitive environment shows that St. Joseph’s Mercy Home Health is dedicated to quality and performance.”

     HomeCare Elite is the only performance recognition of its kind in the home health industry and is provided by OCS, Inc. and DecisionHealth™. OCS, Inc. is the market leader in healthcare information solutions, and by collecting evaluating and interpreting healthcare information, attempts to empower leaders with data-driven insight that can assist them with mission-critical decision making. Meanwhile, DecisionHealth is the publisher of Home Health Line, one of the home health industry’s most respected independent newsletters, and serves the business and regulatory needs of healthcare providers nationwide.

     “We are really honored to have received this recognition,” said Mercy Home Health Director Vickie Griffith, RN. “It is a very prestigious recognition and we feel like the hard work and dedication we have to patient care, quality of care and safety is really paying off. Our plans for the future are to continue to provide quality care to our patients in the community and to expand on areas like medication management.

     “We know this recognition is a culmination of all of our performance improvement projects, and I’d like to credit our staff members for the incredible work that they do. We are fortunate to have leadership from an administrative team that is focused on quality of care and safety.”

     For the entire 2007 HomeCare Elite list, as well as additional information about OCS, Inc. and DecisionHealth, please visit the www.ocsys.com and www.homehealthinteractive.com websites.

      A member of the Sisters of Mercy Health System, St. Joseph’s is a not-for-profit Catholic hospital and two-time recipient of the large-company Gold Award at the Governor’s Family Friendly Employer Awards ceremony in the spring of 2006 and 2007. For further information on the Arkansas Governor’s Family Friendly Employer awards, as well as services and employment opportunities offered by St. Joseph’s, please visit saintjosephs.com.