Amedisys Announces Clinical Excellence in Speech Language Pathology

BATON ROUGE, La., March 31, 2016 -- Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMED) today announced for the fifth year in a row it has proven clinical excellence with its Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) program as evidenced by the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) National Outcomes Measurement System (NOMS) report for 2015. 

NOMS is a data collection system developed to illustrate the value of Speech-Language Pathology services provided to patients with swallowing deficits, cognitive and memory impairments, and communication disorders. It is a recognized outcome data collection system that is recognized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The key to NOMS is the use of ASHA's Functional Communication Measures (FCMs). FCMs are a series of disorder specific seven-point rating scales designed to describe the change in an individual's functional communication, swallowing, or cognitive/memory abilities over the course of treatment.

The 2015 data reflects the Amedisys Speech-Language Pathology program exceeded the national industry average by 12.3% compared to the healthcare industry for 2015. The national average for 2015 was 51.6% of treatment goals met in the home, while Amedisys met 63.9% of treatment goals.

“We are extremely proud of our more than 400 Speech-Language Pathologists here at Amedisys for achieving this level of high quality care for our patients,” said Dr. David Hutchings, CCC-SLP.D., the Senior Managing Director of Rehabilitation for Amedisys. “Helping our patients recover their ability to swallow, remove feeding tubes, and to improve communication and memory deficits is extremely rewarding.”

Each year approximately 15 million are diagnosed with swallowing disorders (Dysphagia) causing more than 60,000 deaths.  Conditions that impact a person’s ability to swallow, communicate or cognitive/memory abilities often include stroke, COPD, dementia, Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, and Parkinson’s.

Amedisys’ Speech-Language Pathology program has proven clinical outcomes which include reduced risk of aspiration pneumonia; increased ability to eat and swallow; reduced need for feeding tubes; increased weight and nutrition status; improved ability to communicate wants and needs; and enhanced memory and cognitive functions or learned compensation techniques.

For more information about NOMS, please visit: http://www.asha.org/members/research/noms/.

For more information about the Amedisys Speech-Language Pathology program, please visit: www.Amedisys.com/SLP.

About Amedisys:
Amedisys, Inc. is a leading healthcare at home Company delivering personalized home health and hospice care. Amedisys is focused on delivering the care that is best for our patients, whether that is home-based 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 2,200 hospitals and 61,900 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 more than 13,000 employees, in 411 care centers in 34 states, Amedisys is dedicated to delivering the highest quality of care to the doorsteps of 360,000 patients in need every year. For more information about the Company, please visit: www.amedisys.com.

Contact:
Kendra Kimmons
Managing Director of Communications
225-299-3708
[email protected]