New public dataset maps Medicare home health use

Home Health Focus: a new publicly available dataset to study community-dwelling populations receiving home health services

2025-11-24

(Press-News.org) Research Brief

Background: Home Health Focus is a new publicly available data set representing home health use by Medicare beneficiaries at home health agency, county, and state levels from 2016 to 2019. The dataset was created to allow users to examine local and national trends without the costs or time-consuming process of entering into a data use agreement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

What the Dataset Includes: The dataset includes basic demographics and indicators of patient function and health status. From 2016 to 2019, home health use rose from 6,853,965 stays among 5,023,681 patients to 7,035,893 stays among 5,088,300 beneficiaries. During the same period, the number of active agencies fell from 11,727 to 10,681.

Implications: Home Health Focus lets researchers, policymakers and journalists quickly describe who uses home health, where they live, and how patterns change over time without a CMS data-use agreement.

Home Health Focus: A New Publicly Available Dataset to Study Community-Dwelling Populations Receiving Home Health Services

Lacey Loomer, PhD, et al

Department of Economics and Health Care Management, Labovitz School of Business and Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota

Pre-Embargo Link (temporary)

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Innovative strategy trains bilingual clinic staff as dual-role medical interpreters to bridge language gaps in primary care

2025-11-24

Original Research Background: This study tested a process to qualify bilingual staff as medical interpreters at a large community health center. Bilingual employees (137 mostly heritage Spanish speaking individuals) completed a survey, self-rated their Spanish ability by taking a formal general Spanish language test and a formal medical interpretation test. Participants then completed a 40-hour online course and then repeated the medical interpretation test. 87 employees completed all steps. What This Study Found: Heritage Spanish ...

Higher glycemic index linked to higher lung cancer risk

2025-11-24

Original Research Background: In this study, researchers examined whether people who follow higher-GI or higher-GL diets have different risks of developing lung cancer. They used data from 101,732 adults in the U.S. National Cancer Institute's Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial cohort who filled out a detailed diet questionnaire when they joined the study (1993–2001). These adults were followed for about 12 years to see who developed lung cancer. The researchers then compared people with the highest GI and GL to those with the lowest, accounting for ...

Metabolism, not just weight, improved when older adults reduced ultra-processed food intake

2025-11-24

A controlled feeding study out of South Dakota State University shows that older adults who ate fewer ultra-processed foods naturally consumed fewer calories, lost weight and abdominal fat, and showed improvements in insulin, nutrient-sensing hormones, and inflammation. “Counting nutrients is not enough,” Moul Dey, professor of health and nutritional sciences, said. “The degree of processing changes how the body handles those same nutrients. Diet quality depends not only on nutrients but also on the ingredients and the level of processing, considered together.” For decades, the Dietary ...

New study identifies key mechanism driving HIV-associated immune suppression

2025-11-24

Baltimore, MD — Researchers from the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have discovered how a specific type of immune cell may contribute to the persistence of HIV infections. The finding offers new insight into why the virus remains difficult to cure even with effective antiretroviral therapy. The study was published earlier this month in Science Translational Medicine. It was led by Guangming Li, PhD, and Lishan Su, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology at UMSOM and Director of the Division of Virology, Pathogenesis and Cancer, and Interim Director of the Division ...

Connections with nature in protected areas

2025-11-24

Protected areas are often seen as refuges for plants and animals – yet they are also places where people live, work and relax. A new study led by the University of Göttingen in Germany, in collaboration with the Universities of Kassel in Germany, Jyväskylä in Finland, and Stockholm in Sweden, shows how deeply people are connected to these landscapes. The research team analyzed personal stories from residents, land managers, and visitors in protected areas of the district of Göttingen. Their findings reveal that protected areas foster local identity, support learning about nature, and provide spaces for recreation, working ...

Rodriguez and Phadatare selected for SME's 30 Under 30

2025-11-24

Brittany Rodriguez and Akash Phadatare of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Science Division (MSD) have been named to SME’s prestigious 30 Under 30 program for 2025. For the past decade, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers has recognized young visionaries in the field — talented individuals with a passion for innovation across manufacturing, research and engineering disciplines. “I am immensely proud of Brittany Rodriguez and Akash Phadatare for their innovative contributions ...

Nontraditional benefits play key role in retaining the under-35 government health worker

2025-11-24

November 20, 2025-- Younger workers in governmental public health place significantly higher value on nontraditional benefits than their older counterparts, according to a new study from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Flexible scheduling and remote-work policies were among the top motivators for younger employees choosing and remaining in public service. The findings are published in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. “Public health workers age 35 or younger consistently show lower retention rates ...

UC Irvine-led study finds global embrace of integrative cancer care

2025-11-24

Irvine, Calif., Nov. 24, 2025 — Around the world, doctors, nurses and pharmacists are turning to evidence-based integrative approaches such as acupuncture, yoga, exercise, massage and nutrition counseling to help people with cancer manage the harsh side effects of treatment. New research led by the University of California, Irvine shows just how widespread that shift has become and how much work remains to make these therapies accessible to all. Published this month in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, the study surveyed more than 300 oncology professionals from the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer and the Society for Integrative ...

From shiloh shepherds to chihuahuas, study finds that the majority of modern dogs have detectable wolf ancestry

2025-11-24

New research led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History reveals that the majority of dogs living today have low but detectable levels of post-domestication wolf ancestry that has likely shaped characteristics including body size, sense of smell, and personality traits. The study, published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that this newly uncovered gene flow may help give unique advantages to dogs’ survival in diverse human environments. Among their findings: post-domestication wolf ancestry exists in a wide range of dog breeds, ...

Ancient wolves on remote Baltic Sea island reveal link to prehistoric humans

2025-11-24

Scientists have found wolf remains, thousands of years old, on a small, isolated island in the Baltic Sea – a place where the animals could only have been brought by humans. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, Stockholm University, the University of Aberdeen and the University of East Anglia, suggest that grey wolves may have been managed or controlled by prehistoric societies. The discovery of the 3,000–5,000-year-old wolf remains was made in the Stora Förvar cave on the Swedish island of Stora Karlsö, a site known for its intensive use by seal hunters and fishers during the ...

New public dataset maps Medicare home health use

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: