UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) is moving toward value-based care at a faster pace than even it originally imagined. And that’s partly because of the success of its home- and community-based care capabilities, according to CEO Andrew Witty. Already, that home- and community-based care ecosystem includes capabilities such as Optum’s HouseCalls program and in-home assessments, plus […]
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday opted to renew the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), keeping in place several regulatory waivers that have been critical lifelines for home health and hospice operators since the start of 2020. While the extension itself is not surprising, it offers further stability as operators […]
Last week, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) revealed that it’s buying aging-in-place giant LHC Group Inc. (Nasdaq: LHCG) and combining the provider with its Optum business. In the aftermath of that announcement, one of the most interesting questions to ponder has been: How will LHC Group fit alongside the rest of Optum’s home-focused offerings? Optum is […]
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) on Wednesday released its long-anticipated report on how to improve nursing home care in the U.S. In doing so, NASEM reinforced what so many long-term and post-acute care stakeholders have learned over the past two years: that, for multiple reasons – both within and beyond their […]
LHC Group Inc. (Nasdaq: LHCG) began in 1994 as a single home health agency, co-founded by husband-and-wife duo Keith and Ginger Myers, the provider’s first nurse. In the nearly three decades since, the family-founded company has gone public and grown into a $2.2 billion home health, hospice and personal care powerhouse with a footprint that […]
Home care franchise giant Seniors Helpers entered this year with big ambitions, partly fueled by its April 2021 acquisition by Advocate Aurora Enterprises. Those ambitions include new data initiatives to take the international home care provider to the next level, as well as staffing investments to help win the workforce battle, according to co-founder and […]
U.S. health care expenditures ballooned in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they’re starting to normalize. National home health spending, in turn, experienced a comparatively small decline over the past year. That’s according to the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which published its annual spending analysis […]
Home health agencies have had to navigate several changes since 2020, from the payment mechanics of the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) to the new policies of the public health emergency (PHE). Yet there’s another change on the distant horizon that forward-thinking operators can’t afford to forget about: a unified payment system for post-acute care providers, […]
LHC Group Inc. (Nasdaq: LHCG) established its first home health joint venture with Louisiana’s Opelousas General Hospital in 1998. Since then, LifePoint Health, Christus Health and several other hospital chains have joined the in-home care company’s JV network as well. Overall, the Lafayette, Louisiana-based LHC Group now has 82 unique joint venture partnerships, collectively covering […]
Encompass Health Corporation (NYSE: EHC) publicly appears to be moving forward with its plan to separate its $1.1 billion home health and hospice segment into a standalone business. Speaking at the Barclays Global Healthcare Conference, CFO Doug Coltharp offered a new level of transparency and rationale behind that spinoff plan on Wednesday. The update came […]