Enhabit Home Health & Hospice partly blamed Medicare payment cuts due to the resumption of sequestration for a disappointing final quarter of 2022.
Dallas-based Enhabit reported adjusted per share earnings of $.32 on revenues of $275.1 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31 compared to $0.59 a share on revenues of $276.1 million during the same period in 2021.
Despite the rough quarter, Enhabit President and CEO Barb Jacobsmeyer said the company was positioning itself for a more successful 2023.
“Significant changes were required in 2022 to lead important strategies for our future success,” Jacobsmeyer said in a statement. “The expansion of our human resource and talent acquisitions teams, the establishment of our payor innovation team, and strategic changes to management and our staffing model in hospice are all making notable progress. We have also taken steps to align our operational and sales teams into a regional structure to drive success clinically and operationally at a local level. While we face numerous headwinds in 2023, we remain confident in the long-term prospects for Enhabit.”
Bolstering the company’s outlook for 2023 are nine new negotiated contracts with Medicare Advantage plans and a nearly 20% increase in the company’s pool of nursing applicants.
Enhabit Home Health & Hospice was spun off from Encompass Health last July. The company struggled in the early months as an independent company due to branding problems and staffing shortfalls due to a number of nurses taking paid time off.
Company executives will provide additional details on the fourth quarter during an earnings call Wednesday with Wall Street analysts.
