[Updated] Bayada, Universal Health Services to Launch New Joint Venture Focused on the Home

Bayada Home Health Care on Thursday announced plans to form a new joint venture with Universal Health Services Inc. (NYSE: UHS), one of the largest providers of hospital and health care services in the country.

Broadly, the goal of the newly announced JV is to meet the increased future demand for in-home care across both organizations’ markets, helping more people recover at home after recent illnesses, injuries or hospitalizations.

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based UHS has over 400 acute care hospitals, behavioral health facilities and ambulatory centers across the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.K. Employing over 90,000 workers, UHS recorded net revenues of $11.3 billion during 2019, an increase of 5.6% year-over-year, according to the company’s most recent financial filing.

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“Increasing access points to quality care in the face of growing demand for home-based services is an increasingly important part of Bayada’s mission,” Kyle Moore, VP of ambulatory care for UHS, told Home Health Care News. “Partnering with a large and geographically diverse organization like Bayada to focus entirely on post-acute health care will help both of our organizations deliver quality clinical outcomes.”

On its end, Moorestown, New Jersey-based Bayada has more than 300 U.S. locations, with additional locations in Germany, India, Ireland, New Zealand and South Korea. Among the nonprofit provider’s offerings are home-based nursing, rehabilitative, therapeutic, hospice and assistive care services.

“Even before the COVID-19 crisis, we have seen a longer-term need to support health systems looking to expand patient care beyond the inpatient setting,” Bayada CEO David Baiada said in a statement. “We are thrilled to partner with a respected provider of hospital and healthcare services like Universal Health Services to help respond to the overwhelming preference to live at home.”

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Bayada recorded 2019 revenues of $1.5 billion in 2019, with the company’s pediatric home health business accounting for roughly one-third of that total.

For UHS, the JV with Bayada will enable the company to “significantly expand” its home health care services and offerings, bringing more care to more patients along the full continuum of care.

Across the United States, health systems and hospitals have increasingly embraced the concept of home-based care.

“We do not underestimate the opportunity to create loyalty and trust among our community through seamless continuation of care through in-home services, which will become an even more critical component of the integrated delivery system,” Moore said.

In part, the push toward the home is due to the coronavirus and the need to reinforce care capacity. While U.S. hospitals handled the initial COVID-19 surge fairly well, many are quickly becoming overwhelmed in emerging hotspots, including Texas, Florida and California.

As a result, some have even opted to launch hospital-at-home programs, with Minnesota’s North Memorial Health’s partnership with Lifesprk being the most recent example.

However, even before the coronavirus, a growing wave of health systems and hospitals had started teaming up with home health providers due to financial and operational struggles. Running home health care segments during a shifting, more complex payment landscape requires ample time and resources, so many organizations see outsourcing services as their best option.

“It’s a definite trend,” Mark Kulik, managing director at mergers-and-acquisitions advisory firm The Braff Group, previously told Home Health Care News. “The theme is [that] it’s hard to be great at everything. Your core competency as a hospital is acute care. Home care is very different.”

News about UHS’s JV with Bayada comes less than a week after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced UHS and one of its facilities had resolved False Claims Act allegations in a $122 million settlement.

“We believe our ability to extend our care into the homes of the people we serve will ultimately help us improve the care we provide to them,” Moore said.


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