主页 > 医学信息 >
【技术产业】No Sickness In Home Health Care Industry
There's no place like home, especially if your alternative is a costly, uncomfortable hospital bed.
The home health care sector is booming this week as major companies in the space capitalize on the aging Baby Boomers and the rising costs of health care, offering a more cost-efficient and convenient alternative to traditional hospital stays.
LHC Group (nasdaq: LHCG - news - people ), a home health provider that caters to the Medicare market of suburbia, reaffirmed the sector's strength late Wednesday when its earnings for the first quarter jettisoned past analyst expectations. The company reported revenues of $83.5 million, up 21.5% from the year-prior period; while profits were down slightly in the quarter to $5.3 million, or 31 cents per share, from $5.8 million, or 33 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2007. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected earnings per share of 29 cents on revenues of $78.7 million.
Shares of the Layfayette, La.-based company surged on Thursday to $19.57, up $3.97, or 25.5% in afternoon trading.
"Our performance is a tribute to the hard working and dedicated employees of LHC Group who faced the adversity of the new reimbursement environment head-on," said LHC Chief Executive Keith G. Myers. "The depth and experience of our management team has once again proven to be the competitive edge that enables us to transform challenges into opportunities."
Myers was referring to the recent overhaul of the Medicare reimbursement system.
"The improvement shown in [first-quarter] operating results lend further validation to the company's original 2008 guidance of $1.25-$1.35 as an eminently achievable bar for the company to reach this year," said BB&T Capital Markets analyst K. Newton Juhng.
Other companies in the sector prepared for the change in the costs. Amedisys (nasdaq: AMED - news - people ), one of the largest home heath care companies, reported revenues of $213.1 million, up 38.7% year-over-year with profits up 24.1% to $16.5 million, or 62 cents per share on Wednesday. (See: " For Health Care, There's No Place Like Home") [标签:content1][标签:content2]
阅读本文的人还阅读：
作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-05-01 17:14
医学,生命科学网