Amedisys continued to struggle through COVID-19 turmoil in the third quarter, underperforming Wall Street projections.
The Baton Rouge, LA-based home care and hospice firm reported $1.15 earnings per diluted share on $558 million in revenues for the quarter ending Sept. 30. By comparison, Amedisys earned $1.53 a diluted share on $553.5 million in revenues during the same quarter last year. Wall Street predicted the company would earn $1.22 a share on $579.3 million in revenues.
Despite the rocky quarter, Amedisys President and CEO Chris Gerard assured investors the company is headed in the right direction.
“Although we continue to be impacted by a few headwinds, most of which we believe to be short-term in nature, our enthusiasm for the future outlook of Amedisys has never been stronger,” Gerard said in a statement. “As we await the final rule in home health, we have been making progress on a number of key initiatives and partnerships that will help to drive future growth at Amedisys.”
Gerard said a case rate arrangement the company signed with Aetna’s Medicare Advantage plans in the third quarter could begin reaping benefits for Amedisys in the coming quarters. He also expressed optimism over a new partnership the company inked with the University of Arkansas for Medical Science that will offer patients in Central Arkansas the full spectrum of Amedisys’ services, including hospital-at-home under its Contessa subsidiary.
Amedisys has been battling COVID-19 headwinds over the past two years. It reported a less-than-stellar second quarter. Uncertainty over the pandemic and a proposed Medicare payment cut to home health for 2023 prompted the company to tap the brakes on mergers and acquisitions last summer.
Amedisys executives will discuss the quarter further during an earnings call with Wall Street analysts on Thursday.
