Wildfires, COVID-19 and PDGM: Growing a Home Health Business During Moments of Crisis

Home health agencies are used to operating during moments of crisis. That’s especially true for California-based Medical Home Care Professionals, which has had to overcome several over the past few years. In 2018, for example, Medical Home Care Professionals operated during the historic Carr Fire that devastated nearly 230,000 acres across California’s Shasta and Trinity […]

NAHC Pushing for Palliative Care, SNF-at-Home Medicare Benefits

As home health and home care operators move toward the ninth month of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to take stock of what has been accomplished from a policy perspective. Many of 2020’s regulatory changes will be fleeting, but others will shape the future of post-acute care for years to come. That was the message […]

As Malpractice Claims Against Home-Based Care Nurses Rise, Providers Must Focus on Risk Management

When it comes to malpractice claims, home-based care nurses are often more susceptible compared to their counterparts in other nursing specialties. That’s a fact that has held true for a while, too. Home-based care nurses — including home health, hospice and palliative care professionals — have seen a steady rise in professional liability claims since […]

ProMedica Home Health Care, Banner Health Home Care Share Best Practices for Virtual Visits

The COVID-19 emergency has triggered a rise in the use of telehealth strategies to deliver care, especially virtual visits. In fee-for-service Medicare alone, the number of virtual visits delivered each week in the U.S. skyrocketed from 14,000 pre-coronavirus to more than 1.7 million during the pandemic’s peak, according to Department of Health and Human Services […]

[Updated] Home Health Adherence Rates Above 70% in Early 2020

It’s not uncommon for patients referred to home health care following a hospital discharge to never start services. In fact, a recent study based on 2016 claims data found that just 54% of patients referred to home health actually utilized it. But a new report from analytics and metrics firm Trella Health suggests that figure […]

WellSky to Acquire CarePort from Allscripts in $1.35B Deal

WellSky announced Tuesday it has entered into an agreement to acquire CarePort Health from Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (Nasdaq: MDRX), a health care information technology provider. The deal is for $1.35 billion, according to Allscripts. WellSky is an international software and professional services company with clients that include home health providers, hospital systems, blood banks, labs, […]

Home Health Buyers, Sellers Headed Toward Frenzied Finish to M&A in 2020

Charter Health Care Group — a PE-backed post-acute care platform company with multiple locations across five states — announced Tuesday the acquisitions of both Vitality Home Healthcare and Heartwood Home Health & Hospice. The news comes less than two weeks after Bridges Health Services similarly announced a series of transactions at the start of October. […]