FirstHealth Home Care has been named a national best practice agency by Fazzi Associates, a national benchmarking service.

The recognition establishes the organization as a proven leader in patient satisfaction - one of the most important measures of an agency's quality program.

"I couldn't have asked for a better Home Care team," says Linda Whitman, of Carthage. "They provided medical care and encouragement during a bad time for me. When I was physically down and out, they took wonderful care of me. With their help, I'm getting healthy and more confident."

Carthage residents James W. and Robbie Taylor feel much the same way.

"We've used FirstHealth Home Care nursing, physical therapy, TeleHealth and nutritionists several times, and they've always been excellent," James Taylor says. "I knew that when I went home from the hospital, I'd be OK and they'd be there for me."

"Their visits are like a beam of sunshine," his wife says. "It has been reassuring to have FirstHealth Home Care taking care of my husband with me, and the TeleHealth monitoring is added security and reassurance."

The Patient Satisfaction Award of Distinction goes to home health organizations that demonstrated superior performance in patient satisfaction in the year 2009.

The achievement places FirstHealth Home Care in the top 25 percent of Fazzi's national patient satisfaction database.

FirstHealth offers Home Care services to patients in Moore, Richmond, Lee, Montgomery, Hoke and Scotland counties.

"FirstHealth Home Care professionals touch the lives of the people we care for and they, in turn, touch ours," says Patty Upham, a registered nurse and director of FirstHealth Home Care Services. "Our patients welcome us into their homes as we help them regain their health. I'm very proud of the staff at First Health for receiving the Patient Satisfaction Award. They are special, compassionate and hard-working people, and it's rewarding to know our patients share this view."

FirstHealth Home Care consistently ranks highly in Medicare's publicly reported quality measures, surpassing numerous state and national standards.

In addition, a recently awarded government grant allows FirstHealth Home Care to provide TeleHealth home monitoring equipment at no charge to its patients, improving health outcomes even more.

Fazzi's National Patient Satisfaction service is one of home care's oldest, largest and most respected patient satisfaction benchmarking systems in the country.

"This level of success is commendable and deserving of recognition," says Gina L. Mazza, Total Performance director for Fazzi Associates, of the patient satisfaction recognition. "This is a significant accomplishment to be incredibly proud of."

For more information on the Patient Satisfaction Award and the services provided by FirstHealth Home Care Services, call (800) 876-2212 toll-free or visit www.firsthealth.org.