Top 25 home health corporations by total patient volume

Which home health agencies had the highest patient volumes in 2022?

Amedisys tops our list with more than 332,000 patients seen in 2023. Based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Amedisys operates more than 330 home health agencies in 33 states. The company also provides hospice and high-acuity services.

UnitedHealth Group’s Optum is acquiring Amedisys in a $3.3 billion deal that is expected to close in late 2024, pending approval by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The deal will be UnitedHealth’s second purchase of a home health and hospice company after buying LHC in early 2023.

In second is Enhabit Home Health & Hospice with more than 172,000 patients recorded last year. Dallas, Texas-based Enhabit has 247 home health locations and 99 hospice locations in 34 states. The company, formed through a spin-off of Encompass Health’s home health and hospice segment, is also exploring a potential sale or merger.

Dallas, Texas’s AccentCare takes third place on our list of largest home health agencies, with more than 159,000 patients seen across 34 states. AccentCare also operates hospice and palliative care facilities, in addition to home health agencies. Private equity firm Advent International acquired AccentCare in 2018.

Who qualifies for home health care services?

In order to qualify for Medicare Part A or Part B coverage of home health services, a patient must be under the care of a doctor and require (as certified by a doctor) skilled nursing care beyond drawing blood, and/or physical, speech, or occupational therapy.

The patient must also be certified as homebound by a doctor. Full-time, round-the-clock care at home is not covered by Medicare, except for in specific cases of hospice care.

How is home health care different than hospice care?

Many agencies that provide home health services also deliver hospice care. While home health care and hospice care are both services covered by Medicare and delivered to patients in the home, they each focus on different types of patients.

Home health care and hospice patients may both require care for chronic or life-limiting illnesses, but patients only qualify for Medicare hospice coverage when they have elected to forgo curative care and have been certified by a doctor to have six months or less to live.

Additionally, home health services generally aim to help a patient get better so they can return to routine living. Hospice services instead aim to provide a patient and their family with comfort and support during the final months of life.

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Healthcare Insights are developed with healthcare commercial intelligence from the Definitive Healthcare platform. Want even more insights? Check out our blog on the growing demand for at-home care or our study into the home health agency market. Start a free trial now and get access to the latest healthcare commercial intelligence on hospitals, physicians, and other healthcare providers.