Hospices are blazing trails toward growth, each provider with its own range of strategies. In 2023, the focus for many is to not only expand their core business but to spread further into the care continuum. Others are traveling a more traditional route, through de novos and acquisitions, though some are modifying their approaches in […]
LHC Group
After quietly being acquired by Optum toward the beginning of last year, home-based care provider Prospero Health is merging with Landmark Health. The two companies are under the ownership of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) subsidiary Optum. Landmark reportedly joined Optum at the beginning of 2021. Both Landmark and Prospero are major palliative care providers in […]
The UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) subsidiary Optum closed its $5.4 billion deal today to acquire LHC Group (NASDAQ: LHCG). LHC Group this morning notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the deal had been completed and that it would no longer be trading on the NASDAQ. Optum first announced its agreement to purchase […]
California-based post-acute care company Charter Healthcare Group has tapped Cheryl Lovell to become its new CEO and Anna-Gene O’Neal as the company’s first chief operating officer. Charter, a portfolio company of Pharos Capital Group, provides hospice, home health, complex care management and palliative care services to nearly 13,000 patients in eight states. “We are excited […]
Though investors and strategic buyers didn’t wade quite as deep into the hospice market in 2022 compared to years prior, the tide may be rising for M&A during 2023. Though hospice M&A activity fluctuated last year, volume is expected to rebound, but probably with larger numbers of smaller deals. Swelling demand for hospice and home […]
Hospices are increasingly leveraging technology and pharmaceutical partnerships to better address the needs of patients and families and improve financial and operational efficiencies. Hospices have leaned heavily on technology during the pandemic, turning to telehealth to remain connected to patients and their families. Hospices have also increasingly leveraged technology to build operational efficiencies during widespread […]
Mortality predictions and behavioral nudges by machine learning systems are associated with increased advance care planning utilization and reductions in high-acuity care. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania recently studied the effectiveness of machine learning algorithms in identifying high-risk cancer patients nearing the last six months of life between June 17, 2019 and April 20, […]
Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) is seeing glimmers of improvement on the labor pressures that contributed to uneven earnings performance during 2022. The company has reduced its nurse turnover rate to the vicinity of 20%, surpassing the industry average, Brian Tanquilut, equity analyst for the investment banking firm Jefferies Financial Group, indicated in a note. Jeffries […]
Through acquisitions and contracts with providers, more payers are going all-in on home-based care. The quest for cost reductions, often through risk-based models, is leading a rising number of insurance companies and other payers to make (sometimes) huge investments in the space. Among them is UnitedHealth Care (NYSE: UNH). These investments underscore the rising profile […]
Though buyers remain hungry for hospice acquisitions, smaller deals will likely be the most prevalent during 2023. Acquisition patterns established in 2021 and 2022 are shaping the M&A outlook for the current year. The number of hospice and home health deals fell by nearly a third last year, though a few “megadeals” have driven up […]