University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Announces a Partnership with Amedisys and Contessa, Creating a Comprehensive Care at Home Suite of Services

 The partnership is the first-of-its-kind in the region and creates a new care at home option for patients, including Recovery Care at Home, Rehabilitation Care at Home, Palliative Care at Home, Primary Care at Home and Home Health

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. and NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED), a leading health care at home company, and Contessa, an Amedisys company and the leading comprehensive care at home provider, announced a partnership bringing a new care at home option to Central Arkansas. The joint venture offers patients a full spectrum of medical care in the comfort and convenience of their own homes.

“UAMS is leading the ambitious goal of making Arkansas the healthiest state in the region, and this strategic initiative supercharges that vision,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “We are thrilled to partner with Contessa and Amedisys to bring this first-of-its-kind model to the region and the first Comprehensive Care at Home program to the state. We look forward to giving our patients an innovative option that delivers on our commitment of community-focused, patient-centered care.”

UAMS Health Comprehensive Care at Home combines all the essential elements of primary, hospital or rehabilitation level care with the comfort of patients’ homes. The proven model improves patient outcomes and satisfaction, achieves cost savings and defines a new standard for care delivery.  The service expands access across the continuum of care, increases critical inpatient capacity and reduces overall cost of care.

The model includes Recovery Care at Home and Rehabilitation Care at Home, which offers safe and effective alternatives to a traditional hospital stay and a traditional skilled nursing facility, respectively. In both services, patients are sent home with easy-to-use remote patient monitoring devices and immediately begin receiving both in-person and virtual visits from their care team daily. These models allow patients to recover in the familiarity of their own home, while receiving expert medical care from trusted UAMS providers.

Palliative Care at Home provides additional support to seriously ill patients, their families and their caregivers. Patients are provided with complete coordinated care through in-home or virtual visits from UAMS care team members; 24-hour services such as physical, emotional and spiritual support; in-depth discussions about their conditions and treatment plans, as well as social services.

As part of the joint venture, home health care will be provided by Amedisys Home Health in Searcy and Little Rock. Home health services include skilled nursing care; physical, occupational and speech therapy; medical social work; and home health aides to assist with activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing and eating.

"Together with Contessa, we have the unique ability to build the full continuum of care at home services. A prestigious institution like UAMS is the perfect partner to put this innovative model into practice. We are excited to provide a comprehensive program that will improve the outcomes and experience for our patients in Central Arkansas,” said Chris Gerard, Amedisys president and chief executive officer.

Several emerging trends strengthen the case for a broadening the home-based care continuum, including patient and physician preference. A recent Capital Caring Health survey found that 90% of Americans over the age of 50 want to remain in their homes and age in place. CarePort reports that home health referrals have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but skilled nursing referrals continue to decline.  

“The pandemic shifted patient preference for care delivery, increasing the demand for high-acuity care in the home,” said Travis Messina, Contessa’s chief executive officer. “Contessa’s Comprehensive Care at Home model builds upon that momentum while providing an integrated care at home platform for patients, providers and payers. We are honored to partner with UAMS to bring this level of care to patients in Little Rock.”

UAMS Health Comprehensive Care at Home will begin accepting home health patients later this year or by early 2023, with other services rolling out in early 2023.

About UAMS 
UAMS is Arkansas’ only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute and Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS' clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,047 students, 873 medical residents and fellows, and six dental residents. It is the state's largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children's, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.

About Contessa 
Contessa, an Amedisys company, delivers comprehensive care at home. An industry pioneer since 2015, Contessa provides a coordinated suite of services including Recovery Care at Home, in lieu of being admitted to a hospital, Rehabilitation Care at Home, in lieu of being admitted to a skilled nursing facility, and Palliative Care at Home. Combining all the essential elements of an inpatient hospital or rehabilitation stay into the comfort of patient’ homes, Contessa allows partners to reimagine care delivery. Contessa utilizes Care Convergence™, a proprietary technology platform, to power a seamless solution that is safe, affordable and improves patient outcomes.  

Based in Nashville, the company currently partners with 11 health systems and 30 health plans serving patients in eight states. Alongside Amedisys’s 21,000+ employees in 38 states, the company has the ability to serve more patients in a full care continuum, from primary care to end-of-life, all in the comfort of home. For more information, visit contessahealth.com or follow us at @contessahealth.  

About Amedisys 
Amedisys, Inc. is a leading healthcare at home Company delivering personalized home health, hospice, personal care and high-acuity care services. Amedisys is focused on delivering the care that is best for our patients, whether that is home-based personal care; inpatient hospital, palliative, and skilled nursing facility (“SNF”) care in their homes; recovery and rehabilitation after an operation or injury; care focused on empowering them to manage a chronic disease; or hospice care at the end of life. More than 3,000 hospitals and 90,000 physicians nationwide have chosen Amedisys as a partner in post-acute care. Founded in 1982, headquartered in Baton Rouge, LA with an executive office in Nashville, TN, Amedisys is a publicly held company. With approximately 21,000 employees, in 547 care centers in 36 states and the District of Columbia, Amedisys is dedicated to delivering the highest quality of care to the doorsteps of more than 445,000 patients in need every year, performing more than 11.5 million visits annually. For more information about the Company, please visit: www.amedisys.com.  

Forward-Looking Statements: 
When included in this press release, words like “believes,” “belief,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “projects,” “estimates,” “may,” “might,” “would,” “should,” “will” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described therein. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the following: the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic (“COVID-19”), including the measures that have been and may be taken by governmental authorities to mitigate it, on our business, financial condition and results of operations, changes in or our failure to comply with existing federal and state laws or regulations or the inability to comply with new government regulations on a timely basis, changes in Medicare and other medical payment levels, our ability to open care centers, acquire additional care centers and integrate and operate these care centers effectively, competition in the healthcare industry, changes in the case mix of patients and payment methodologies, changes in estimates and judgments associated with critical accounting policies, our ability to maintain or establish new patient referral sources, our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, our ability to keep our patients and employees safe, changes in payments and covered services by federal and state governments, future cost containment initiatives undertaken by third-party payors, our access to financing, our ability to meet debt service requirements and comply with covenants in debt agreements, business disruptions due to natural disasters or acts of terrorism, widespread protest or civil unrest, our ability to integrate, manage and keep our information systems secure, our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions, and changes in law or developments with respect to any litigation relating to the Company, including various other matters, many of which are beyond our control. 

Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, you should not rely on any forward-looking statement as a prediction of future events. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking, and we do not intend to release publicly any updates or changes in our expectations concerning the forward-looking statements or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances upon which any forward-looking statement may be based, except as required by law. 

Contacts: 

Dana Schroering
Amedisys/Contessa
[email protected]

Leslie Taylor
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
[email protected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/91317584-7277-4c02-8ad9-3bbdb6000a4b