Business Briefs: Addus Closes on Home Health Agency

Addus Closes Acquisition of South Shore Home Health Services

Addus HomeCare (NASDAQ: ADUS), one of the nation’s largest home health care providers, has closed its previously announced acquisition of South Shore Home Health Services, a New York state-licensed home care services agency that primarily provides personal care services. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

South Shore is headquartered on Long Island and currently serves Suffolk, Nassau, Queens and Westchester counties. In 2015, South Shore produced approximately $52 million in revenues.

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LHC Group Names Sarah Myers as VP of Governmental Affairs

LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: LHCG), a national provider of home health, hospice and comprehensive post-acute services with more 10,000 employees and 350 locations in 25 states, has named Sara Myers to serve as the company’s Washington D.C.-based vice president of governmental affairs, effective March 1.

Myers has served as an executive director for state home health care associations and as a public policy professional for over 20 years, including the Oregon Association for Home Care. Under her direction, the association doubled revenues in five years and grew membership and associated dues by 20% through new programs, services and investments.

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She has successfully lobbied with Oregon home care member-experts for increased Medicaid payments to providers by requiring the state to pay fee-for-service rates based on Medicare cost.

She is a member of the American Society of Association Executives and a Certified Association Executive. She also served two years as executive director and lobbyist for the Home Care Association of Colorado and one year as interim executive director for the Maryland National-Capital Home Care Associations.

Myers received the President’s Award for Outstanding Leadership for successes and organizational growth from the Oregon Association for Home Care in 1998 and 2013.

Lincare Buys AHP

Lincare, a respiratory specialists group that provides services to in-home patients and is a subsidiary of The Linde Group, has closed on its acquisition of Brentwood, Tennessee-based American HomePatient, one of the nation’s top five largest home health care providers. Lincare serves more than 1 million patients across the United States.

Lincare originally announced its plans to acquire AHP in December, pending requisite approvals from U.S. regulatory authorities. As of Feb. 1, AHP is recognized in Lincare’s consolidated balance sheet.

AHP will reportedly consolidate its regional billing centers and close four of its nine centers.

AHP generated revenues of $280 million in 2014 and employs 2,700 people in 220 branches across 38 states.

First Choice Home Health & Hospice Hires Kevin Clifford 

Kevin Clifford, physician, has been hired by First Choice Home Health & Hospice, a home health and hospice provider based in Utah.

Clifford previously served 13 years as medical director of inpatient palliative care at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center. He has taught residents and students at the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho for the past 25 years. Clifford is also a clinical associate professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine and teaches medical students there and at Pacific Northwest University School of Medicine.

Clifford got his start in palliative medicine in 1995, when he established the first comprehensive HIV clinic in Idaho. Since 1997, he has worked extensively in hospice as a medical director and treating physician. He also helped start Idaho’s first inpatient palliative care program at Saint Alphonsus.

Senior Connection Hires New Executive Director

The Senior Connection, a provider of programs and services such as Meal-on-Wheels, a memory day care program for individuals, transportation services, in-home care and companionship services, has named Teresa Beahen Lipman as executive director in the Wood River Valley, Idaho.

Lipman moved to the Wood River Valley in 2004 to become the CEO/executive director of Wood River Community YMCA. She retired in May 2011 after 29 years of working for YMCA in several states. She has since worked with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Paul Kenny and Matt Bogue Real Estate, and most recently, as a development consultant for a number of smaller-size non-profit organizations in the areas of fundraising.

Lipman got her start working with seniors when she studied in London during her junior year of college where she assisted at a senior day care facility.

Breezie Makes U.S. Launch

Breezie, a U.K.-based company that provides tablet-based solutions for seniors who struggle with technology, is expanding into the U.S. market. The company will be headquartered in Pittsburgh and has already engaged in high-profile projects with the National Council on Aging and Verizon.

Breezie has also attracted strategic investment from the Ziegler Link Age Longevity Fund, L.P., which focuses on companies that provide technology and innovation in the field of senior living.

Jeh Kazimi, Breezie founder and CEO, says the company will be meeting with senior living executives across the country in the weeks and months ahead to establish business relationships. As a result of its relationships with Link Age, Breezie is now in a pilot program with Ohio Masonic Homes for its independent living residents, but plans to extend the services into home health with Breezie as an engagement platform.

Medalogix Announces Third Home Health Analytics Technology

Medalogix, a Nashville-based health care technology company, has released Nurture, its third analytics-based solution for home health agencies. The technology uses predictive analytics, workflows and business intelligence tools to help identify patients that may benefit from home care in the future and follow through with appropriate actions to resume care.

Nurture analyzes EMR data to rank recently discharged patients, who are categorized by how many days they’ve been off census and their potential for needing additional care. A patient’s probability of needing additional care is displayed for physicians to quickly understand which patients to call first. The software recently completed beta testing with Alternate Solutions Health Network.

Nuture integrates with Medalogix’s other analytics-based population health management solutions.

Written by Amy Baxter

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