This month, the executive team of Baton Rouge-based Amedisys will make the move to Nashville, joining the more than 250 other healthcare companies headquartered in Middle Tennessee.
One of the nation’s largest home health and hospice providers, Amedisys delivers care to approximately 380,000 patients each year and is a post-acute care partner to more than 2,233 hospitals and nearly 62,000 physicians across the country.
At Home in Nashville
“We’re moving our executive team here because we appreciate the innovation and market in Nashville,” Paul Kusserow, president and CEO of the $1.3 billion company, told Nashville Medical News. “Our vision is to be more than a homecare and hospice company. We see the future of healthcare as delivered without boundaries in the home setting.”
He continued, “Our presence in Nashville will help us engage with the leading health systems, health technology and health services companies. This will ensure we’re not only able to meet the current needs of our patients, but their future needs, as well. A Nashville office is an important step toward our goal of being the leading provider of healthcare in the home.”
Earlier, in a company-issued statement announcing the move, Amedisys called Nashville “the epicenter of healthcare industry in the United States.” Roughly 35 of the company’s top executives will be located in the Cummins Station office, which is slated to open in October.
Amedisys by the Numbers
Founded in 1982, Amedisys is the nation’s second largest home health provider and fourth largest provider of hospice care. The company receives some 57,000 calls daily, resulting in approximately 10 million patient care and education encounters annually.
In July 2015 the publicly traded company (NASDAQ:AMED) reported second quarter net service revenue of $314.1 million compared to $305.0 million in 2014. In early September, Amedisys announced a newly authorized stock repurchase program, under which the company may repurchase up to $75 million of its outstanding common stock during the next year.
“Amedisys is committed to a disciplined capital allocation strategy,” Kusserow said at the time. “This announcement reflects the continued confidence of the board and our management team in our long-term plan. While we will continue to prioritize investing in accretive acquisitions, our current capital position and strong free cash flow profile will adequately support reinvesting in our business while preserving the option to return capital to shareholders.”
Innovative Leadership
Kusserow, who joined the company last December, is a highly respected healthcare industry veteran with expertise in driving growth and innovation. He was most recently vice chairman of Alignment Healthcare, Inc., an integrated clinical care company focused on providing care to the Medicare population.
Before that, he served as senior vice president and chief strategy, innovations and corporate development officer for Humana, Inc. Previous experience included serving as managing director and chief investment officer of the Ziegler HealthVest Fund; managing director of San Ysidro Capital Partners, LLC; and managing partner of Roaring Mountain, LLC.
A Rhodes Scholar, Kusserow earned his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and his master’s from Oxford University.
New Rules in Healthcare
In today’s environment, it takes every ounce of innovation to address the diverse needs of various stakeholders. As the push toward outpatient and home care continues, Kusserow said finding new ways to treat patients in their own homes is becoming increasingly critical.
“How do we become an ‘aging in place’ company different from traditional healthcare?” Kusserow asked.
To address that question, Amedisys recently launched the industry's first-ever, nationwide Care Transitions program, which is designed to reduce unnecessary hospital readmissions through patient and caregiver health coaching and care coordination. The process starts in the hospital and continues throughout completion of the patient's home health plan of care.
And their new company, Clinically Home, also is focused on expanding home health in more acute areas including family care. Kusserow said the model has peaked the interest of ACOs and managed care companies, while insurance companies also have expressed an interest in more favorable, cost-effective alternatives to traditional hospital care.
Kusserow noted data and technology sharing is another critical component to the success of home-based care, and the company prides itself in innovation on that front, as well. In 2011, Amedisys was named ‘Innovator of the Year’ for its web-based physician portal, MercuryDoc, during the Louisiana Governor's Technology Awards. The company has been continually recognized for outstanding service in other ways. In 2013, 155 Amedisys care centers across the country were named to the HomeCare Elite™, a compilation of the top-performing home health agencies in the United States.
A leading Medicare provider, Amedisys was the recipient of $4.7 million from CMS based on its performance during the second year of the Medicare Home Health Pay for Performance demonstration project. CMS shared nearly $15 million in healthcare savings with more than 100 home health agencies that participated in the intervention group of the two-year program. Based on a company analysis of publicly available information from CMS.gov, Amedisys officials believe the company has received the highest reward for this demonstration project for the second year in a row.
“We’re doing good business because we’re doing good things out there,” Kusserow stated.
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