Kindred Outlines Solutions for Aging Americans with Quality, Innovation and Social Responsibility Report

Business Wire

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (“Kindred” or the “Company”) (NYSE:KND) today released its 2015 Quality, Innovation and Social Responsibility Report that highlights major achievements for the year and shares some of the Company’s solutions for population health in the years ahead.

The report details Kindred’s commitment to addressing the issues faced by patients, family members, payers and providers as the number of seniors rapidly rises and healthcare costs and confusion grow. We highlight how Kindred has significantly expanded its care management capabilities and data-driven solutions to deliver medical and rehabilitative care that best supports recovery and a return home, while also establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for consumers and partners alike. The report is available at www.kindredhealthcare.com/our-company/our-quality.

“While we look back at another successful year in clinical quality, we are excited to share what we see as the future of care for an aging America,” said Benjamin A. Breier, Kindred’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “This report details how Kindred has transformed operations and capabilities in order to deliver care and services where and when patients need it most. Our partnerships with premier hospitals and health systems strengthen our ability to effectively manage care nationwide. And Kindred’s care platform spans the continuum of post-acute services with the goal of coordinating patient care throughout an entire episode – with a focus on helping people live well at home.”

“We are a company driven by our Mission – a Mission that demands we meet not only the healthcare needs of our patients, but of our communities,” continued Mr. Breier. “Building supportive relationships with our patients and families is at the heart of what Kindred delivers each day.”

In order to drive healthcare solutions and best meet patient need, Kindred has engaged in significant initiatives and earned recognitions:

Solutions

An Integrated Post-Acute Care Provider – As the nation’s largest, fully diversified provider of post-acute care across the continuum, Kindred now has the ability to meet the health and wellness needs of senior Americans from hospital to home.

Post-Acute Care Benefits Management – As a post-acute benefits manager, Kindred delivers quality care services across the full continuum – including in the home – in a seamless way, partners with hospital systems and payers to improve care and lower costs, and provides consumer information and support even after patients leave our care. Additionally, through our recently announced partnership with Inovalon (NASDAQ:INOV), we will leverage data to stratify patients, determine the most appropriate post-acute sites of service, develop evidence-based care pathways, and establish pricing models in order to better serve patients, partners and payers.

1.866.KINDRED: 24/7 Direct Consumer Assistance by Registered Nurses – In 2015, Kindred’s Contact Center, which is staffed by Registered Nurses, had almost 29,000 interactions via phone or email with families who needed help navigating care for their loved ones when they left the hospital. Whether someone needs answers about insurance or Medicare coverage, care for aging parents, rehabilitative services after an illness or surgery, or care in the home, Kindred’s nurses provide answers and help guide consumers to the services that exist within their local communities. Kindred nurses also began contacting patients following their stay at a Kindred facility in order to ensure patients had a positive experience and, if necessary, help them obtain continuing care.

Clinical Excellence

Transitional Care Hospitals – In 2015, Kindred Transitional Care Hospitals treated the most seriously ill and medically complex patients, discharging more than 68% of patients home or to a lower acuity setting. In 2015, Transitional Care Hospitals outperformed national benchmarks including catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities – As a leading provider of inpatient rehabilitation services nationwide, Kindred’s freestanding Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities and managed hospital-based Acute Rehabilitation Units outperformed peers in key clinical measures in 2015.

Nursing Centers – In 2015, Kindred Nursing and Rehabilitation Centers significantly outperformed peer providers in survey performance – with no substandard care citations. Our Nursing Centers discharged 56% of patients home after an average stay of 30 days.

Home Health and Hospice – In 2015, 111 of Kindred at Home’s home health locations were named to the HomeCare Elite list, which identifies the nation’s top 25% of Medicare-certified agencies. In another measure of quality performance, more than 91% of Kindred at Home’s home health locations had three or more stars for quality of patient care in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Five-Star Rating System, which recognizes the highest quality care. Additionally, in 2015, our personal home care assistance locations significantly outperformed national benchmarks in client satisfaction.

Kindred Rehabilitation Services – In 2015, Kindred Rehabilitation Services delivered therapy to more than 556,000 patients, aiding in their recovery and return home. At discharge from RehabCare services, patients regained 81.5% of the function that they had prior to injury or illness that necessitated the therapy services.

Kindred House Calls – Kindred’s House Calls provide high-quality physician-based house call services for patients who are at high risk for hospitalization and cannot easily access traditional outpatient services – enabling patients to stay at home. Through our tailored medical care, we are delivering improved clinical outcomes, preventing emergency room visits and hospital stays, and creating positive patient experiences.

Business Growth

South Carolina Home Health Expansion – Kindred acquired from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (“DHEC”) licenses to provide home health services in all 46 counties in South Carolina for approximately $18 million. Kindred reached an agreement with DHEC following a state bidding process. The agreement took effect January 1, 2016, and allowed Kindred to expand its services throughout the entire state.

New Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospitals – In 2015 and early 2016, Kindred opened three new hospitals in partnership with other healthcare providers in Arlington, Texas, Madison, Wisconsin, and Cleveland, Ohio.

Kindred House Calls – In 2015, Kindred House Calls, the Company’s Home-Based Primary Care business, continued to grow and currently employs approximately 70 practitioners in four states, who serve more than 7,500 patients and make more than 60,000 home visits. In March 2015, Kindred acquired Physician House Calls LLC, a physician-led, primary care practice based in Denver, Colorado, which delivers care in home-based settings. Dr. Thomas Lally, who founded Physician House Calls, is now Chief Medical Officer for Kindred House Calls. In May 2015, Kindred acquired House Call Doctors of Austin, Texas, which provides in-home medical care in Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and surrounding areas.

New Transitional Care Centers – Kindred opened new Transitional Care Centers in Las Vegas, Nevada (160 beds), and Phoenix, Arizona (120 beds).

Craig and Shepherd – In 2015, Kindred entered into an affiliation with two of the nation’s leading rehabilitation hospitals – Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado, and Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia – in order to establish a network of expert neuro-rehabilitation care locations in post-acute settings. The affiliation also supports rehabilitative research, and the affiliate partners will share clinically-proven practices and educational programs.

Future Growth – Kindred created a joint venture with Dignity Health to construct and operate a 50-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Chandler, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. Subject to customary regulatory and other approvals, Kindred expects the hospital to open by the fourth quarter of 2016.

Education and Corporate Citizenship

Clinical Impact Symposium – In November 2015, Kindred conducted its seventh Annual Clinical Impact Symposium – Effective Care Management: The Impact of Fall Prevention and Medication Management Across the Continuum – attracting physicians, clinicians and therapists from all divisions to learn from the nation’s leading experts in care transitions across the continuum. By bringing together over 400 professionals from across the Kindred enterprise and from many different disciplines, Kindred furthered its commitment to provide the best in interdisciplinary care for its patients and customers.

Diversity Summit – In June 2015, Kindred conducted its first national diversity and inclusion symposium in order to bring together Company leaders and external speakers as the Company built critical leadership skills on diversity best practices and inclusion.

Employee Training and Tuition Reimbursement – As part of the Company’s commitment to attract, develop and retain outstanding talent and to provide them with the training to continue to excel and grow professionally, Kindred invested approximately $29 million in employee training and approximately $3 million in tuition reimbursement in 2015.

Social Responsibility – Kindred’s commitment to its patients and residents extends to helping raise money and awareness to fight the diseases that most affect them and their loved ones. Throughout 2015, Kindred employees nationwide participated in events and fundraisers strengthening the Company’s state and national relationships with the American Lung Association, the Alzheimer’s Association and the American Heart Association. In November 2015, the American Lung Association honored the Company for raising $1 million for the American Lung Association since 2012. In the American Lung Association’s fiscal year ending in 2015, Kindred and its employees raised more than $316,000 through organizing and participating in fundraising events. As a Silver National Team for the Alzheimer’s Association’s “A Walk to End Alzheimer’s,” 2015’s fundraising increased 16% to almost $150,000, the number of teams increased 31% to more than 105 and the number of participants increased 19%. Through Kindred’s national partnership with the American Heart Association, the Company and 92 teams raised approximately $96,000.

Awards

In 2016, Kindred was named one of Fortune magazine’s Most Admired Healthcare Companies for the seventh time.
James Mendez, Administrator at Kindred Hospital Dallas, was named 2015 Young Healthcare Executive of the Year by the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Board of Trustees.
Marianne Myers, Registered Nurse (“RN”) Unit Manager at Kindred Transitional Care and Rehabilitation – Birchwood Terrace in Burlington, Vermont, was named RN of the Year by the Vermont Health Care Association.
Modern Healthcare magazine recognized Mr. Breier among the most influential leaders in healthcare.
Six of the Company’s Nursing Centers received a 2015 Silver Quality Award from the American Health Care Association.
Kindred Nursing and Rehabilitation – Mountain Valley, in Kellogg, Idaho, received a 2015 Qualis Health Idaho Quality Award. Kindred was one of four healthcare organizations from across the state recognized for their achievements in improving healthcare quality and outcomes. Kindred Nursing and Rehabilitation – Mountain Valley was honored for their project “Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement: from Theory to Practice, Implementing the Five Elements to Fall Reduction.”
Tonia Bryant, Executive Director at Kindred Transitional Care and Rehabilitation – Elizabeth City in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, received a 2015 Eli Pick Facility Leadership Award from the American College of Health Care Administrators. The award recognizes administrators whose teams have achieved dimensions of organizational quality.
Kindred Transitional Care and Rehabilitation – Eagle Pond in South Dennis, Massachusetts, received the 2015 Post-Acute Collaborative Participation Award from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The award recognizes post-acute facilities that participate in the Collaborative and have shown dedication in improving the care stroke patients receive in the post-hospital setting.
Kindred’s Information Systems Department was awarded the CIO 100 Award. This award honors 100 companies that demonstrate excellence and achievement in IT and innovation. Kindred was honored for its “Connecting the Care” strategy that focuses on the need to continue digitizing information in the Kindred enterprise and interconnect systems through the Kindred Health Information Exchange. Kindred was just one of five healthcare providers to receive this honor.
Kindred Rehabilitation Hospital Clear Lake in Webster, Texas, earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval^® for Stroke Rehabilitation Hospital Certification. In addition, Kindred Hospital Tarrant County Arlington in Arlington, Texas, and Kindred Hospital Fort Worth Southwest in Fort Worth, Texas, each earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval^® for Pulmonary Rehabilitation Certification. The Gold Seal of Approval^® is a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to providing safe and effective patient care.

About Kindred Healthcare

Kindred Healthcare, Inc., a top-90 private employer in the United States, is a FORTUNE 500 healthcare services company based in Louisville, Kentucky with annual revenues of approximately $7.2 billion⁽¹⁾. At December 31, 2015, Kindred through its subsidiaries had approximately 102,000 employees providing healthcare services in 2,692 locations in 46 states, including 95 transitional care hospitals, 18 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, 90 nursing centers, 19 sub-acute units, 604 Kindred at Home home health, hospice and non-medical home care sites of service, 100 inpatient rehabilitation units (hospital-based) and a contract rehabilitation services business, RehabCare, which served 1,766 non-affiliated sites of service. Ranked as one of Fortune magazine’s Most Admired Healthcare Companies for seven years, Kindred’s mission is to promote healing, provide hope, preserve dignity and produce value for each patient, resident, family member, customer, employee and shareholder we serve. For more information, go to www.kindredhealthcare.com. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

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			(1)			Revenues were computed by combining the twelve months ended December 31, 2015 data for Kindred and one month ended January 2015 data for Gentiva Health Services, Inc., which was acquired by the Company on February 2, 2015.