Home Health & Hospice Week

If you've seen falling income so far this year, you're in good company. Gentiva Health Services Inc. was the only publicly traded home care chain to buck the trend of lower profits in the first quarter of 2011.

Gentiva reported net income of $13.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, compared to $9.3 million in the year-ago quarter. By comparison, LHC Group Inc.'s profits fell from $15.8 million to $10.1 million in the same time period; Almost Family Inc.'s net income decreased from $7.4 million to $5.7 million; and Amedisys Inc.'s profits tumbled from $36.8 million to $15.3 million during that timeframe (for more about Amedisys's earnings, see Eli's HCW, Vol. XX, No. 17, p. 136).

Three of the four publicly traded chains saw increases in revenues, however. Gentiva's net revenues took a huge jump from $297.1 million in the first quarter of 2010 to $458.8 million in the first quarter of 2011. That's largely due to the Atlantabased national chain's blockbuster acquisition of hospice chain Odyssey Inc. last August.

Lafayette, La.-based LHC reported a revenue increase from $145.2 million to $161.8 million in the same time period. Louisville, Ky.-based Almost Family's revenues increased only slightly from $81.3 million to $82.6 million. Amedisys was the sole company with a net revenue decrease, from $413.0 million to $364.3 million in the time period.

Company execs pointed to Medicare reimbursement rate cuts as one factor contributing to lower earnings. LHC faced a 5.2 percent cut, it noted in its earnings release. The cut cost Almost Family $3.9 million in revenues, it said.

Coming into compliance with the face-toface and therapy requirements that took effect April 1 also created costs, LHC noted. And Gentiva incurred $3.8 million in charges for financing change expenses.

After the Odyssey acquisition, Gentiva is now seeing a much larger percentage of its earnings come from its hospice segment. In the first quarter of 2010, Gentiva recorded $277.5 million in home health revenues and $19.7 million in hospice revenues. In the latest quarter, the company recorded $263.7 million in home health revenues and $195.1 million in hospice revenues. "Hospice represented 43 percent of total net revenues in the first quarter of 2011, compared to 7 percent in the 2010 first quarter," Gentiva pointed out.