Amedisys Announces Clinical Excellence in Speech-Language Pathology

Amedisys Announces Clinical Excellence in Speech-Language Pathology

Program Exceeds NOMS National Average by 19%

BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Amedisys, Inc. (NAS: AMED) today announced for the second 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 2012.

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 2012 data reflects the Amedisys Speech-Language Pathology program exceeded the national industry average by 19.08% compared to the healthcare industry for 2012. The national average for 2012 was 49.93% of treatment goals met in the home, while Amedisys met 69.01% of treatment goals.

"We are extremely proud of our more than 440 Speech-Language Pathologists here at Amedisys for achieving this level of high quality care for our patients," stated Kate Jones, chief clinical officer for Amedisys. "Treating our patients in the home allows our SLPs to more effectively assess their real-world needs and individualize their treatment, and these outcomes validate the results."

Each year 80,000 Americans lose the ability to speak, while approximately 10 million are unable to swallow, often due to the effects of stroke, 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. (NAS: AMED) is a leading health care at home company delivering personalized home health and hospice care to approximately 360,000 patients each year. 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, palliative care for those with a terminal illness, or hospice care at the end of life. The Company's state-of-the-art advanced chronic care management programs and leading-edge technology enables it to deliver quality care based upon the latest evidence-based best practices. Amedisys is a recognized innovator, being one of the first in the industry to equip its clinicians with point-of-care laptop technology and referring physicians with an internet portal that enables real-time coordination of patient care seamlessly. Amedisys also has the industry's first-ever nationwide Care Transitions program, designed to reduce unnecessary hospital readmissions through patient and caregiver health coaching and care coordination, which starts in the hospital and continues throughout completion of the patient's home health plan of care. For more information about the Company, please visit: http://www.amedisys.com.

Amedisys, Inc.
Kendra Kimmons, 225-299-3708
Managing Director of Communications
kendra.kimmons@amedisys.com

KEYWORDS: United States North America Louisiana

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