Home Health & Hospice Week

Gentiva revenues flat due to state, managed care dips. If you're not increasing profits under the pro-spective payment system, you aren't following in the lead of two prominent home care companies.
 
Baton Rouge, LA-based Amedisys Inc. saw a whopping 34 percent growth in its patient admissions in the quarter ended June 30, compared to the same period in 2003. That surge is "by far the strongest growth rate ever achieved by the Company," CEO William Borne crows in a release.
 
That growth contributed to the regional provider's stellar earnings for the quarter - $5 million net income on $56.9 million in revenues, up from a $1.5 million profit on $32.2 million in revenues for the year-ago quarter. That's a 77 percent increase in revenues.
 
Success factors: Amedisys cites a number of factors in its admissions growth: a more experienced and better trained sales force; an expanded range of clinical programs; referral source education; and opening new locations through start-ups.
 
Meanwhile, Gentiva Health Services Inc. saw its revenues decrease slightly in the quarter ended June 27. The home health giant reported net income of $6.0 million on revenues of $208.2 million, compared to a $5.2 million profit on $208.4 million in revenues for the same period in 2003.
 
Gentiva's Medicare revenues saw a 28 percent increase over the previous year's quarter. But the company's Medicaid and managed care revenues shrank.
 
Medicaid and local government revenues declined $3.7 million, or 8.6 percent, when Gentiva pulled out of "certain low-margin, hourly Medicaid and state and county programs," the company explains. Revenues from commercial insurance declined $8.4 million, or 6.8 percent, due to a reduction in revenue from CIGNA Healthcare, Gentiva reports.