Fall is nearly here! While the temperature has started to drop here in Chicago, we aren’t letting the end of summer get us down. We were here to bring our readers the hottest industry news, including a new acquisition and even more fallout in the aftermath of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Pre-Claim Review Demonstration.

Here in the newsroom, we were prepping for pumpkin spice latte season and keeping an eye on coverage around the web following the shocking death of the founder and former CEO of Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED), who was a victim in the devastating flooding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, last month.

Most Read

Right at Home to See Even More Growth Under New Ownership—Omaha, Nebraska-based provider of home health care services Right at Home has been acquired by a privately owned investment company, using some of the equity from Right at Home, under which it expects to see continued growth in the coming months. Right at Home is already one of the nation’s largest home care providers and added 7,000 caregivers to its franchise network in the first quarter of 2016. RiseMark Brands, Right at Home’s parent company, has been acquired by Raleigh, North Carolina-based Investors Management Corporation (IMC), a private equity company.

LHC Group CEO: Pre-Claim Put Potential Acquisitions on Ice—The pre-claim review demonstration now underway for home health agencies in Illinois has shrunk the robust acquisition pipeline of one of the nation’s largest providers, LHC Group (Nasdaq: LHCG). LHC has been vocal about pursuing a large acquisition pipeline, but a big chunk of those deals have been at least temporarily put on ice by pre-claim.

Final CMS Emergency Prep Rule Hits Home Health—Under a new final rule, home health agencies and other Medicare-certified providers will be required to meet emergency preparedness standards—or face the risk of losing national payor reimbursements. CMS issued its long-awaited rule on emergency preparedness at a time when numerous natural disasters over the last few years have put people’s health and safety in jeopardy.

Why Population Health is the Future of Home Care—With numerous new payment models coming down the pike, like value-based purchasing, home health agencies have an opportunity to become more involved in population health with the support of technology. While the fee-for-service model doesn’t necessarily support population health aims, the home health industry can become much more involved in care coordination as new incentives push integration across care settings.

Around the Web

Letters: Borne’s Death a Great Loss to Louisiana—Baton Rouge has experienced many losses in the great flood of 2016. However, one person lost in this time should not be overlooked: William F. “Bill” Borne, the founder and former CEO of Amedisys Inc.(Nasdaq: AMED), writes Barbara C. Carey, president of The Communication Institute.

How Tens of Thousands of Patients Who Weren’t Actually Dying Wound Up on Hospice Care—Over the past decade, the number of patients who outlived hospice care in the United States has risen dramatically, in part because hospice companies earn more by recruiting patients who aren’t actually dying, a 2014 Washington Post investigation found. Now, government inspectors have turned up information about how this has happened, The Washington Post writes.

After the Floods, an Outpouring of Help From the CEO—After devastating floods hit Baton Rouge, Louisiana, last month, Amedisys CEO Paul Kusserow stepped up to help the hundreds of employees who were impacted, The Wall Street Journal details.

Amy’s Adds

97-Year-Old Michigan Woman Finally Gets Her High School Diploma—Margaret Thome Bekem had to drop out of high school to care for her sick mother, Time write. Now, at 97 years old, she has received her high school diploma, 79 years after she was supposed to graduate.

Written by Amy Baxter