By Tim Bonfield
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Getting information to compare the quality of health care services isn't easy. But families who need home health services for aging or chronically ill relatives have a new resource.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ranks 30 home health agencies in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky against state averages.

The "Home Health Compare" service tracks agencies on 11 measures of quality, including how many patients get better at bathing themselves, taking medicine properly, and how many need to be admitted to hospitals.

Information includes how to contact the agency, what services are offered, and the type of ownership (governmental, non-profit, for-profit).

Among the findings: 18 of 30 area agencies are average or above average in helping people with bathing skills; 17 of 30 were above-average at medication accuracy; but only nine of 30 were above average for helping patients improve mobility.

This is the second consumer-friendly service offered recently by Medicare. "Nursing Home Compare" was launched in 2002.

Check out www.medicare.gov or call 1-800-Medicare.

DOCTORS GET POLITICAL: Persuading Ohio lawmakers to pass a malpractice reform bill - which took effect in April - wasn't enough progress for the Ohio State Medical Association.

The high cost of malpractice insurance remains the top political issue for hundreds of Ohio doctors who attended a recent "Future of Medicine" summit in Columbus. So next year, doctors want lawmakers to pass three more reforms:

• Create medical screening panels to evaluate potential malpractice cases before they go to court.

• Set up a patient compensation fund. This pool of money - paid through fees charged to doctors statewide - would pay a portion of malpractice awards against doctors, which would allow doctors to carry lower amounts of personal insurance.

• Limit the contingency fees lawyers can collect if they win a case against a doctor.

Getting such bills passed will require even more political action - and money - from doctors, says Tim Maglione, top lobbyist for the OSMA.

"The trial lawyers' PAC outspends us three-to-one," he said.

VITAL STATISTIC 5,695: The number of first-time mothers in Greater Cincinnati served since 1999 by the Every Child Succeeds program.

Founded on the concept that the first few years of life are crucial to long-term brain development, this agency spends millions of dollars a year arranging home visits for low-income, young mothers.

Visitors teach parenting skills, provide home safety checks, as well as special needs evaluations for children, and sometimes for mothers.

The agency also provides books and toys to families that can't afford them.