Home Health M&A Activity Surges ‘Exponentially’

Home health agencies face a challenging Medicare reimbursement environment, but that has not slowed down merger and acquisition activity. Transactions in fact have increased significantly after a sluggish start to the year, and the high volume is expected to continue in 2016, industry professionals said during a recent webinar. “Several years ago, we predicted that home […]

5 Home Health Leaders’ Tips on Emergency Prep

Establishing strong staff communication and taking advantage of local resources are crucial for emergency preparedness, a panel of home health leaders said in a recent webinar. The webinar, moderated by health care accreditation organization The Joint Commission, aimed to identify key leadership strategies for effective emergency operations plans and present different ways to evaluate their […]

ACOs Receive $422 Million in Shared Savings Payments

The Accountable Care Organization program is finding firmer footing, third year program results from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) suggest. Quality and financial performance results show that in 2014 ACOs grew, had a more positive impact and improved with age. Made up of groups of doctors, hospitals and other health care providers, […]

Amedisys Faces Lawsuit Over Lender Control of Board

Amedisys Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) has been accused of entering into illegal credit agreements with lenders, granting them influence in changes within Amedisys’ administration, according to a class action lawsuit filed against the major home health and hospice provider. The lawsuit claims Amedisys’ board established an illegal agreement in 2012 with JP Morgan Chase Bank and […]

3 Steps for Safeguarding Cash Flow Through ICD-10 Change

Home health agencies grappling with the transition to the impending ICD-10 code set could experience reduced cash flow without proper preparation, according to a guide released by Dallas-based home health software vendor Axxess this week. Preparing for the transition in advance, however, might help your organization avoid such a consequence. About 69,000 new medical codes officially […]

Cardinal Health Bets Big Money on Smarter Post-Acute Placements

In what could be a $410 million deal, Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) has purchased a company that leverages data to determine whether hospital patients would benefit most from home health care or are better suited to a different post-acute setting.  Through a proprietary technology that analyzes what likely patient outcomes will be, naviHealth works with […]

New York Home Health Agency to Pay $6 Million Medicaid Fraud Settlement

Empire State Home Care Services, a New York-based home care agency, has agreed to a $6 million settlement following a Medicaid billing audit, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Monday. The audit revealed Empire improperly billed Medicaid by reporting salaries and benefits of administrative personnel under direct care cost centers between 2002 and 2005 […]

Even Well-Paid Nurses Struggle To Save In These 10 Cities

While home care workers participate in the Fight for 15 movement in an effort to secure livable wages, it might come as a surprise that even registered nurses struggle to live comfortably and save some of their income, according to analysis from MyBankTracker. The analysis focuses on how much Americans would need to earn to maintain […]

MedPAC: Proposed Home Health Payment Model is Too Burdensome

A proposed new system for tying home health Medicare payments to quality measures is too burdensome on providers and should be streamlined, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) stated in a letter to policymakers. MedPAC advises Congress on Medicare policy and it is viewed as an influential panel of experts, although lawmakers are not obliged […]