Home Health & Hospice Week

Amedisys inks managed care deal.

The U.S. Senate's therapy inquiry, the face-to-face assessment requirement, and lower reimbursement rates are among the factors bedeviling publicly traded home care chains. Three more home care companies have reported decreased profits in the latest quarter.

Baton Rouge, La.-based Amedisys Inc.'s profits fell to $4.3 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to $22.3 million for the same period in 2010, according to the company's press release. Service revenues fell from $388.7 million to $370.7 during that time period.

"Home health reimbursement cuts and new regulatory requirements led to a challenging year for the sector," Amedisys CEO William Borne said in the release.

LHC Group Inc. reported net income of $9.4 million on revenues of $157.7 million, compared to a $15.3 million profit on revenues of $167.1 million in the year-ago quarter. The Lafayette, La.-based company earlier this month said it's exploring "strategic alternatives."

Louisville, Ky.-based Almost Family Inc. saw profits dip to $5.3 million for the fourth quarter, down from $7.0 million in the year-ago quarter. But the chain did see an increase in revenues for the period, however. They rose from $84.5 million to $89.3 million during the time period, according to the company's release.

"Last year was a very challenging year for everyone in the home health business," Almost Family CEO William Yarmuth says in the release. The company had "regulatory obstacles and meaningful rate cuts we had to overcome."

Plus: Amedisys also has announced that it is now a home health and hospice care provider for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia members. "Becoming an in-network provider for BCBSGa, enables Amedisys to care for more than 3.2 million people who are members of its commercial and Medicare Advantage plans," the company notes in a separate release.

And LHC has entered into a home health joint venture with Baptist Health System, one of the largest healthcare systems in Alabama, according to a release from the Lafayette, La.-based na-tional chain. Baptist has hospitals in Birmingham, Talladega, Alabaster. and Jasper.

One of the partnership's goals will be to prevent "costly and avoidable hospital readmissions as mandated by the Affordable Care Act," LHC CEO Keith Myers says in the release.