Home Health & Hospice Week

Plus: Amedisys-UnitedHealth deal clears next hurdle.

Empath Health and Trustbridge are beginning the process of affiliating, the two companies say in a release.

“Trustbridge sought to partner with an organization that shares the same dedicated focus on providing expert, compassionate hospice and palliative care to the communities we serve; alongside the ability to add new non-acute and senior care services to Trustbridge’s service areas,” Trustbridge CEO David Fielding says in the release.

Leadership of both organizations will begin formal discussions and develop integration plans in the coming weeks, Clearwater-based Trustbridge and West Palm Beach-based Empath say.

Empath Health encompasses Hospice of Marion County, Suncoast Hospice, Tidewell Hospice, Suncoast Hospice of Hillsborough, and Empath Hospice. Trustbridge is the parent of Hospice of Palm Beach County and Hospice by the Sea.

Other recents deals around the nation include:

In Massachusetts: Mass General Brigham Healthcare at Home is expanding its Hospital at Home program, the health system says in a release. It plans to implement operations starting this month for patients at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and Salem Hospital. Over the next five years, the system expects to shift 10 percent of inpatient care at its hospitals to patients’ homes, it says.

In Washington: PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center is bringing back its palliative care program, after closing it in May. After high-profile backlash from the community, the Catholic health system has announced plans to relaunch the program early next year. In contrast to the earlier program, which relied heavily on care in patients’ homes, “clinic-based care will be the primary focus,” the Bellingham-based system says in a release. “Closer alignment with existing PeaceHealth services, such as home health, hospice, and ambulatory care management, aims to holistically provide more comprehensive care that addresses patients’ needs,” it adds.

In Pennsylvania: Best Buy Health is looking to “scale” its partnership with Geisinger, the companies say in a release. Under that arrangement, Best Buy’s Geek Squad sets up remote monitoring technology in patients’ homes and provides education and Geisinger care teams monitor the patients’ data through the Best Buy Current Health division. So far, the partnership has resulted in a 19 percent improvement “in how well patients follow their care plans by wearing and using their remote technology equipment more consistently,” they say.

In Missouri: Another health system is tightening its budget with home health cuts. SoutheastHealth in Cape Girardeau has closed its Southeast Home Health offices in Cape Girardeau and Dexter serving those counties as well as Stoddard County, according to press reports. The health system cites labor shortages and reimbursement declines as reasons.

In Louisiana: Amedisys Inc. shareholders have given their thumbs up to the publicly traded chain’s $3.3 billion acquisition by UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s Optum division, according to a Sept. 8 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. But the deal is still undergoing antitrust scrutiny, as Amedisys revealed last month (see HHHW by AAPC, Vol. XXXII, No. 29).