Amedisys, Inc. is an American healthcare company based in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

. They are one of the largest home health providers and second largest

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

care provider in the United States. Amedisys provides in-home skilled

nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

occupational therapy Occupational therapy (OT), also known as ergotherapy, is a healthcare profession. Ergotherapy is derived from the Greek wiktionary:ergon, ergon which is allied to work, to act and to be active. Occupational therapy is based on the assumption t ...

and speech language pathology,

medical social work Medical social work is a sub-discipline of social work that addresses social components of medicine. Medical social workers typically work in a hospital, outpatient clinic, community health agency, skilled nursing facility, long-term care facilit ...

, home aides, and

and

bereavement Grief is the response to the loss of something deemed important, particularly to the death of a person to whom or animal to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, grief also ha ...

services, with 11 million patient care visits in 2011. Amedisys employs more than 21,000 individuals at more than 500 locations in 39 states and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

In 2010, annual revenues were approximately $1.6 billion. Amedisys was ranked 999 on the

Fortune 1000 {{location map+ , United States , float=right , width=400, relief=1 , caption=''Fortune'' 1000 company headquarters locations. Top 20 companies labeled, places= {{location map~ , United States , lat= 36.365378 , long= -94.217629 , label= Walmart, ...

in 2011. In June 2023,

Optum Optum, Inc. is an American healthcare company that provides technology services, pharmacy care services (including a pharmacy benefit manager) and various direct healthcare services. Optum was formed as a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group in ...

agreed to acquire Amedisys for $3.3 billion.

History and governance

Amedisys was founded in 1982 by William F. Borne, a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a healthcare professional who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized ...

from

Reserve, Louisiana Reserve is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The population was 9,111 at the 2000 United States Census ...

and William Matt Hession (registered nurse). CEO of Key Nursing. Borne has served as chief executive officer (CEO) and chairman of the board since that time. In 1993, the company completed a reverse acquisition with M&N Capital Corp, and began trading on the NASDAQ Small Cap Market in 1994. Additional public offerings of its

common stock Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other C ...

were completed in 2004 and 2006. As of Nov. 6, 2011, the members of the board of directors of Amedisys were: William F. Borne, chairman; Don Washburn, lead director; Ronald LaBorde; Jake L. Netterville, CPA; David Pitts, and Peter Ricchiuti. Borne resigned as CEO, chairman, and director of Amedisys on February 24, 2014, 33 years after founding the company, and was named Chairman Emeritus by the company's Board of Directors. Ronald (Ronnie) A. LaBorde was named Interim CEO, having been Amedisys president and chief financial office for two years, and a member of the Board of Directors for 17 years. In June 2011, Amedisys closed the acquisition of Beacon Hospice, a

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

provider of hospice services with 24 locations in five states. In March 2008, Amedisys closed the acquisition of TLC Health Care Services, a home health provider with more than 100 locations. Amedisys announced March 28, 2014, it was closing 29 care centers (23 home health and six hospice) and consolidating another 25 (21 home health and four hospice). The Concord (NH) office of Beacon Hospice was closed on April 30, 2014. Hyder Family Hospice House (Dover, NH), one of the facilities in the Beacon Hospice acquisition, was also to be closed. Hyder House was the only in-patient hospice facility in Strafford County, NH. (Hyder House was expected to transfer to county ownership on August 1, 2014.) Amedisys announced a $150-million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice on April 23, 2014. This settlement was about Medicare reimbursements for home health services by some Amedisys care centers from January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2010, as well as a

Stark Law Stark Law is a set of United States federal laws that prohibit physician self-referral, specifically a referral by a physician of a Medicare or Medicaid patient to an entity for the provision of designated health services ("DHS") if the physic ...

infraction involving care services provided to a physician group in exchange for compensation inconsistent with fair market value from April 1, 2008, through April 30, 2012, an issue Amedisys had voluntarily disclosed. The $150 million included more than $26 million to settle six whistleblower lawsuits in Pennsylvania and one in Georgia. The $150 million is five times what a leading analyst in the industry estimates Amedisys will earn in 2014 before income taxes, depreciation, and amortization. In June 2023,

agreed to acquire Amedisys for $3.3 billion. It rejected a prior offer from Option Care that it initially agreed to the previous month.

Recognitions

Amedisys is accredited by the

Accreditation Commission for Health Care The Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) is a United States-based non-profit health care accrediting organization. It represents an alternative to the Joint Commission and CHAP, The Community Health Accreditation Program. ACHC was esta ...

(ACHC). In June 2011, three Amedisys care centers were awarded the first ''Integrated Health Care Standards Accreditation for Behavioral Health Disorders'' by ACHC. In 2010 and 2011, under the Medicare Home Health Pay for Performance (HHP4P) demonstration Amedisys received the largest reward in both years ($3.6 million in 2010, $4.7 million in 2011). HHP4P shared more than $15 million in savings with 166 home health agencies that either maintained high levels of quality or made significant improvements in quality of care. In July 2011, Amedisys was named ''Innovator of the Year'' during the ''2011 Louisiana Governor’s Technology Awards'' for its patient care management web application for physicians, ''Mercury Doc''. In October 2011, over 250 Amedisys agencies were named to the ''2011 HomeCare Elite'', a compilation of the top-performing home health agencies based on quality outcomes, quality improvement and financial performance. One-hundred-four Amedisys care centers have been honored multiple times, including 13 that have been acknowledged every year since the inception of the ''HomeCare Elite'' in 2005. In 2010, Amedisys launched the first nationwide home health care transitions program, aiming to reduce unnecessary hospital readmissions through patient education and care coordination. The program and a

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

case study demonstrating a downward trend in acute care hospitalization rate were highlighted in Home Health Quality Improvement Campaign's ''Cross Settings I –

Best Practice A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to alternatives because it tends to produce superior results. Best practices are used to achieve quality as an alternative to mandatory standards. Best practice ...

Intervention Package''.

Foundation and charitable giving

In 2005, Amedisys established a

501(c)(3) nonprofit organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 5 ...

, the Christen Foundation, to distribute contributions to local nonprofit organizations and employees in need. The Christen Foundation also administers donations to Amedisys’ Hospice Fund. Amedisys employees’ contributions rank second in the nation in fundraising for the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...

, next to only the American Heart Association itself.

References

External links

* {{authority control Companies listed on the Nasdaq Hospices in the United States Organizations established in 1982 1982 establishments in Louisiana Medical and health organizations based in Louisiana Announced mergers and acquisitions Companies in the S&P 400