home health

CHICAGO (April 17, 2019)—A Chicago-based home health company filed a class action complaint in Federal Court on Friday, April 5, against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and a federal Medicare contractor named AdvanceMed.

SHOREVIEW, Minn. (April 11, 2019)—Maxwell Healthcare Associates (MHA), a home health and hospice consulting firm, announced tremendous company growth led by tripling its year-over-year top-line performance. In the last year MHA doubled its customer base, more than tripled its consultant count, added new partners and broadened its service lines.

Via NAHC, WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 3, 2019)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted long-awaited information about the next steps for its Review Choice Demonstration, which will begin in Illinois on June 1, 2019.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 3, 2019)—Encompass Health Corp., the fourth-largest provider of Medicare-certified skilled home health services, will buy the assets of the privately owned Alacare Home Health & Hospice.

The companies announced the deal on April 1; the terms were not disclosed. Birmingham, Alabama-based Alacare operates 23 home health locations and 23 hospice locations in Alabama and generated about $117 million in revenues last year.

Via NAHC (March 28, 2019)—A New York Court of Appeals ruling will allow homecare providers in that state to continue to pay “sleep in” aides for 13 hours of a 24-hour shift, as long as the employees are given three hours for meal breaks and eight hours of sleep, at least five of which must be uninterrupted.

NETANYA, Israel (March 25, 2019)—Eitan Group, a global provider of advanced infusion therapy solutions across the care continuum, announced that Roger Massengale has been appointed CEO of Eitan Group North America.

Massengale’s appointment signals Eitan Group’s move into directly marketing its infusion product suite in North America.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 18, 2019)—The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), released its annual March report to Congress on March 15, 2019. MedPAC is required to produce this report; however, Congress is not required to act upon all the recommendations contained in the report and historically has not done so. Chapters 9 and 12 of the Report, Home Health Recommendations and Hospice Recommendations respectively, will be of most interest to NAHC members.

LENEXA, Kan. (March 14, 2019)—WellSky, a health and community care technology company backed by TPG Capital, announced a partnership with Chapters Health System to deploy and develop its web-based electronic health record (EHR) technology solutions. Chapters Health and its affiliates will implement Consolo hospice and palliative care software as well as WellSky home health software. Consolo joined the WellSky team in late 2018.

PHILADELPHIA (March 5, 2019)—BAYADA Home Health Care and AmeriHealth Caritas today announced they have entered into a value-based agreement to improve patient health, reduce unnecessary cost and promote accountable care at home.

“We are proud to play a collaborative role in building health communities that improve the continuum of care for our patients.”

NEW YORK (February 28, 2019)—Medically high-risk patients and communication breakdowns between providers contribute to the difficulty of medication management for older adults receiving home health care, finds a study led by researchers at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. The findings are published in the journal Medical Care Research and Review.

NETANYA, Israel (February 27, 2019)—Q Core Medical, a developer of smart infusion systems for hospital and ambulatory care settings, announced the opening of a new European office in Marseille, France. The new European regional headquarters will be led by Q Core Medical Country Manager, Laurent Schektman, who will lead direct sales efforts of Q Core’s hospital and homecare infusion systems in France and other European markets.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 26, 2019)—In the Feb. 22, issue of the NAHC Report, the National Association of Home Care & Hospice broke down a recent Health Affairs study. Health care spending in the United States is expected to rise to nearly $6 trillion by 2027, but home health spending will rise faster than all other care categories, according to a new projection from the Office of the Actuary of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

SACRAMENTO, Calif., (February 13, 2019)—Honor announced today that two of the leading homecare agencies in Greater Sacramento—Live Well at Home by Eskaton and Indecare—have joined the Honor Care Network, a growing partnership of homecare agencies dedicated to improving the quality standards of homecare.