Comparing agencies' reports of consistency of provider to be achieved in home care service delivery under managed competition

Abstract

This study examined the components of the benchmarks used to monitor consistency of provider by home care agencies that competed for nursing and homemaking contracts in the Hamilton-Wentworth Community Care Access Centre. Comparisons of the impact of varying components of the benchmarks on provider consistency demonstrated that current benchmarks reveal very little about the extent to which consistency of provider will be achieved. Uniform standards must be adopted to allow for comparisons across the agencies.