Amedisys Strengthens Hospice Market Leadership

Amedisys, a market-leading provider of home health, hospice and personal care plans to continue its acquisition growth strategy by acquiring AseraCare Hospice for $235 million.

This is another step in the company’s goal of shifting individuals from one in-house setting to the next over time. Amedisys will operate, once the AseraCare acquisition is complete, 190 care centers in 35 states, caring for an average daily census of about 14,000 patients.

Amedisys, in addition to acquisitions, has been forming partnerships to grow its personal care footprint, including one with ClearCare Inc. in 2019. The partnership will expand the company’s personal care services and could open the door for future Medicare Advantage (MA) opportunities.

ClearCare provides caregiver scheduling, billing and other software solutions to more than 4,000 home care agencies in total, including several of the industry’s largest. Under the agreement, Amedisys is able to establish partnerships between its home health centers and non-Amedisys personal care agencies, using ClearCare to coordinate the care of patients.

Also, Walmart recently partnered with Amedisys to expand hospice utilization nationwide through Walmart Health. Walmart Health contracts local health care providers in certain markets to provide primary care, laboratory services, dental optical, diagnostic imaging and other services.

Amedisys recently closed on the acquisition of Asana Hospice. Asana provides hospice care to approximately 540 patients daily in eight locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Kansas and Texas.

Takeaway: Amedisys continues its focus on growing its hospice to increase utilization and balance its hospice portfolio with its home health operations