Wentworth Homecare Announcement

Wentworth Homecare, an Amedisys partner a leading home health care and hospice services company, announced that it is providing personal emergency response systems (PERS) for its homecare patients.

The PERS devices will be provided free of charge while the patient is under the care of Wentworth Homecare. Upon discharge from Wentworth homecare services, the patient will have the opportunity to continue the service by paying a market-rate fee directly to the service provider.

The PERS devices and call center services are provided by a best-in-class, national provider of remote health monitoring devices and 24/7 communication services.

“We are very pleased to provide a PERS device to our home care patients,” said Norma Juneau, R.N., Director. “Each year, one in every three adults age 65 and older falls, which can lead to moderate or severe injuries. Having a PERS device with our patients at all times enables us to more effectively communicate with our patient and respond if they have a fall or another issue, “she continued.

“As a family physician for 30 years I have seen PERS devices enable swift medical intervention that helps reduce patient anxiety, enhances their independence and quality of life and also helps to reduce unnecessary visits to the emergency room,” said Michael Fleming, MD FAAFP and Chief Medical Officer of Amedisys. “I am thrilled that Amedisys has made the investment in the quality of our patient’s care to provide PERS for free in the Seacoast area,” he continued.

Wentworth Home Care and Hospice, an Amedisys partner Named to 2011 Top 100 HomeCare Elite

Dover, N.H. — Wentworth Home Care and Hospice, an Amedisys partner today announced that it has been named to the 2011 HomeCare Elite™ top 100 home health agencies in the country for the fifth time. Now in its sixth year, the HomeCare Elite is a compilation of the top-performing home health agencies in the United States. Winners are ranked by an analysis of performance measures in quality outcomes, quality improvement, and financial performance. The HomeCare Elite identifies the top 25 percent of agencies and further highlights the top 100 and top 500 agencies overall.

“It is increasingly challenging to manage the cost/quality equation. The 2011 HomeCare Elite winners demonstrate a commitment to providing patients with the best possible care while managing their business efficiently and effectively,” said Amanda Twiss, CEO of OCS and My Innerview. “This year, we updated our methodology to reflect industry focus and, based on this rigorous analysis, we congratulate Wentworth Home Care and Hospice, an Amedisys partner on being one of the top home care agencies in the country.”

The 2011 HomeCare Elite is the only performance recognition of its kind in the home health industry. The 2011 HomeCare Elite is brought to the industry by OCS HomeCare, the leading provider of homecare information, and DecisionHealth, publisher of the industry’s most respected independent newsletter Home Health Line and the Complete Home Health ICD-9-CM Diagnosis Coding Manual. The data used for this analysis were compiled from publicly available information.

“Making the HomeCare Elite list is an important honor that shows the quality of care offered by the dedicated employees of Amedisys,” said Jim Robinson, Executive Vice President of Amedisys Home Health and Hospice Care. “The one constant goal of all of our care teams is to provide the best possible healthcare for our patients and their loved ones. Our employees are focused on quality every day with every patient visit, and this recognition is a clear result of their efforts.”

“The HomeCare Elite designation continues to gain significance given the regulatory changes and challenges that agencies face. Agencies that have earned recognition among the HomeCare Elite demonstrated that they not only can adapt to an evolving marketplace but continue to excel in both clinical and financial outcomes,” said Marci Heydt, product manager for the post-acute care business group, DecisionHealth.

The entire list of the 2011 HomeCare Elite agencies can be viewed by visiting the OCS HomeCare website at www.ocshomecare.com.