HomeCare Editors’ Top 5: Week of September 7

HealthSouth Expands in Southeast
HealthSouth Corporation (NYSE: HLS) has further expanded its portfolio, acquiring the home health agency operations of CareSouth Health System, Inc. for $170 million in cash and merging them with those of Encompass Home Health, the national operator announced Monday. (Kourtney Liepelt/Home Health Care News)

GA Pediatricians Join Together to Improve Care
More than 1,100 Georgia pediatricians have joined a new physician-led network that aims to improve quality of care and eventually contract for payments from insurers. (Andy Miller/Georgia Health News)

Heart Attack Patients More Likely to Die if Ambulances are Diverted
Heart-attack patients whose ambulances were diverted from crowded emergency rooms to hospitals farther away were more likely to be dead a year later than patients who weren’t diverted, according to a recent study published in the journal Health Affairs. (Barbara Feder Ostrov/Kaiser Health News)

Florida Healthy Kids: Federal Law Led to Price Hikes
Florida Healthy Kids Corporation is blaming President Obama’s health care law after notifying parents that health insurance premiums will increase for thousands of kids starting next month, jumping from $140 to as high as $284. (Kelli Kennedy/Associated Press)

Hepatitis C Screening Push Focuses on Boomers, Drug Users
Delaware health officials are focusing a new campaign on hepatitis C screening for baby boomers and intravenous drug users. (Associated Press)