Must-Read News: Amedisys Bullish on Home Health, In-Home Heart Programs

Start your week with our must-read news, including interesting stories from around the web and some of our top coverage from the past week.

Worldwide, dementia remains one of the leading health conditions for older adults, often contributing to individuals’ and families’ decision of forgoing the independence of living at home in favor of constant care. With the help of machine learning and a sprawling database, the Framingham Heart Study, researchers may have now come a little closer to better understanding the risk factors associated with dementia. Age, unsurprisingly, was identified as a risk factor. Being widowed, underweight and sleep deprived at midlife were also identified factors.

Full results of the dementia research was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

The Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration has had ripple effects throughout the U.S. economy—including home health. Contributor Howard Gleckman, a resident fellow at The Urban Institute, highlighted that impact in a May 10 Forbes column. The immigration crackdown will likely worsen an already severe shortage of home health aides and caregivers, according to Gleckman.

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Amedisys, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED) saw its margins swell to their highest level since 2015, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based company reported during its 2018 Q1 earnings call. Amedisys executives are bullish on the year ahead and expect continued growth and expansion across the company’s service lines.

Speaking of Amedisys, the company is marching ahead with its specialized care programs for patients with heart failure, despite mandatory bundled payment programs for cardiac care being put on hold. Providers big and small are doing the same, as well, hoping the specialized programs will drive down re-admissions and add to referral appeal. Home Health Care News talked to two of them: Cleveland Clinic and Vitalus Health.

In other news, the opioid crisis and forthcoming Hospice Compare changes are among the top regulatory issues in hospice.

Written by Robert Holly