PROCTORVILLE ­— In recently released results, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Five-Star Quality Rating System recognized Proctorville’s St. Mary’s Home Health Service with a 4-star rating in quality. The most recent ratings were released by CMS in July.

The Five-Star Quality Rating System was instituted by CMS as part of its Home Health Compare website to provide a “tool for consumers to use when choosing a home health care provider.” The system ranks providers in two categories: Quality of Patient Care and Patient Satisfaction.

The ratings are highly coveted by home health providers and seen as a key differentiator in the industry.

St. Mary’s Home Health Service is part of LHC Group, a national provider of post-acute care services with over 11,000 employees operating more than 350 locations in 25 states.

“The entire LHC Group organization extends our congratulations to the team at St. Mary’s Home Health Service for this outstanding recognition of quality and commitment to serving our patients,” said Keith Myers, LHC Group chairman and CEO. “The CMS star ratings are among the healthcare industry’s best indicators of who is providing best-in-class service. We couldn’t be more proud to have a team like this helping us carry out our mission.”

In the July results, LHC Group saw 82 of its locations achieve a 5-star rating or better in at least one of the two categories.

In research also released in July, Jeffries Group LLC, a New York-based global investment bank and institutional securities firm that provides financial advisory services, called LHC Group’s ratings “noteworthy” and “impressive” among its peers.

The Jeffries Group report listed LHC Group as “the top performer” among publicly traded companies in both the Quality of Patient Care and Patient Satisfaction categories. The report also supported the firm’s ongoing view that “publicly-traded home nursing providers deliver better care quality and should gain market share as quality becomes the driver of referrals.”