Alivia Care Enters Home Health Market with Better Life Acquisition

Alivia Care has entered the home health space with the acquisition of Better Life Home Health in Summerfield, Fla., for an undisclosed sum. Better Life operates in 16 counties in Florida and Georgia. 

Post-acquisition Alivia Care’s business lines will include home health, hospice, palliative care, and Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). The organization is working to develop a network of providers, including hospices, that can collectively negotiate with payers within value-based programs, through a strategy called “Better Together.”

“Our organization is excited about building on and expanding the excellent work of Better Life Home Health, one of only a handful of five-star quality-rated Medicare home health agencies,” said Alivia CEO Susan Ponder-Stansel. “Adding home health to our services is part of our goal of creating a continuum of care so that patients and their families can have the support needed to live well with as much independence as possible.”

As hospices move closer to value-based payment structures like Medicare Advantage, scale will become increasingly important. Many private payers prefer to work with providers that have a large geographic footprint, in response hospices have been pursuing mergers, acquisitions and partnerships to build up their negotiating power and remain competitive with larger for-profit companies.

Alivia Care came into existence last year when Florida’s Community Hospice & Palliative Care rebranded into a larger company with a wider range of services. From its very inception, Alivia has been focused on growth, with affiliations as a primary pathway.

Better Life is the third company to join forces with Florida-based Alivia Care. Earlier this year Alivia affiliated with Georgia-based providers Hospice Satilla and the Hospice of the Golden Isles. The network that Alivia is building is distinct from a traditional acquisition. In this model, hospices can join Alivia as members, maintaining their own license, board and keeping their corporate entity intact.

The Alivia subsidiary Community Hospice & Palliative Care also operates a joint venture with Aging True, called PACE Partners of Northeast Florida.

Providers, including Alivia Care, are focused on moving care further upstream by diversifying their service lines to include palliative care, home health, PACE and other offerings. Alivia has been proactive about developing new business lines and services as it continues to grow its footprint.

“Before we invest in anything at Alivia Care, we ask ourselves if this is something that we should buy, build or partner with other organizations to provide, including the services we provide and our staffing resources as well,” Ponder-Stansel recently told Hospice News.