I've been in Homehealth since 2003, in the Midwest. My children are grown, out of the house, living their own lives

Its time I work on my dream to move west, Colorado, maybe New Mexico.

I've been researching Gentiva and Amedysis as they are national companies with offices in the parts of the country I want to move to.

Does anyone have an opinion, a fyi, a heads up concerning any of these companies? I'd like more than the website information to form an idea whether I'd want to submit an applicant.

Thanks Indy

Well, I've worked for Gentiva on and off for 22 years. First in Indiana, then Arizona, and now California. I like the company, obviously. There are good and bad people in every company (office). The biggest thing I don't like about it is almost all the offices are pay per visit, the ones that aren't are heading in that direction. I have heard most companies are going PPV. You can either be pay per visit with beneifts, or per diem. They do not hire salary or hourly anymore that I know of (field nurses, office staff is still hired in hourly and salary). The crew we have here in California are awesome, I love this office. I had some issues with the office in Arizona, so I guess a lot of it is office specific. The office I am in right now, is still on paper and only the Phoenix area and an area in Florida are on on electronic, but it is coming. The insurance is good, altho, they are switching in 2010, so I'm not sure how it will be.

I have not worked for the other company, but I have read numerous posts on here that have not been favorable to them. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. I moved out of Indiana to get out of the cold and I waited until my son was grown and had his own life. I love it here and don't regret one bit moving, altho it is hard not living around any family anymore. Good luck!!

Edited to add: lol I just noticed you are in Indiana also. I lived in Muncie for many, many years. I don't miss Indiana one bit, altho I do miss my family a lot. :)

You will find many negative comments on this forum concerning Amedysis. Worked for Gentiva. It was ok when I worked for the original DOCS. However, the new people who came to the office before I left were extremely rude, condescending, and offputting. They refused to return calls to my client, a fact that she duly noted and acted upon. They were nasty to myself and the other nurses on that case. When the case transferred to another agency, (not surprising, is it?), they sent a nasty letter telling us not to go there anymore. We became employed by the new agency. The company also reduced my supervisor's pay rate two or three times. Doubt I will be working for Gentiva again.

I worked for Amedisys for 3 years and would not work for them again. They only care about how much money they are going to make off of the RN filling out the OASIS. The PT's and RN's were constantly pressured to fill it out so that they would be reimbursed better whether or not it was truly how the pt should be scored. It was very frustrating to look at a 485 and see things that you knew you hadnt put on there. Were also pressured to admit a pt even if they clearly were not homebound. They wanted us to admit, get 5 visits, then d/c. It was very frustrating and I felt like I was completely defrauding Medicare everyday when I went to work. This is just my 2 cents. Good luck with moving and the new job.

Agree with Luvdaisy to a certain extent. My Director has fought with the higher-ups regarding practices that are not sanctioned by Medicare, she has been in this business for over 30 years and I think that she is on the ball. The corporate folks, not so much. They're only interested in the bottom line--how much they can bill Medicare. A lot depends on your area and your office staff, but they don't have much pull with the corporate entity. It's definitely a McHome Health Care company.

You will find many negative comments on this forum concerning Amedysis. Worked for Gentiva. It was ok when I worked for the original DOCS. However, the new people who came to the office before I left were extremely rude, condescending, and offputting. They refused to return calls to my client, a fact that she duly noted and acted upon. They were nasty to myself and the other nurses on that case. When the case transferred to another agency, (not surprising, is it?), they sent a nasty letter telling us not to go there anymore. We became employed by the new agency. The company also reduced my supervisor's pay rate two or three times. Doubt I will be working for Gentiva again.

Wow, what Gentiva did you work for? Was this when they took over a smaller homecare company. I have dealt with many, many people at Gentiva and only ran into a couple of nasty ones. The office I work in now is awesome. We just had an internal audit and did pretty good. As I said, I have worked for Gentiva on and off for 22 years, I keep coming back to this company, and I have worked for this company in 3 different states. The only problems I have had was the Phoenix office and they were beta testing the electronic charting, and had a few people that you shouldn't turn your back on. Other than that, everyone I have dealt with has been wonderful, even the ones from corporate have been great.

I believe the problems my client and the nurses encountered with Gentiva stemmed from the individuals involved, not the corporation as a whole. As I said, the first DOCS was good to work for. However, the pay cuts doled out to my supervisor occurred before these people took over the office, so that can not be blamed on the nastiness of a few individuals.

i currently work for Gentiva in SC,,,overall i am happy with my job and employer. we are pay per visit with benefits, i do believe most if not all HH companies will be going to PPV,,we are still on paper with computers to come (who knows when),,they can be somewhat of a micro management company,,,i am not asked to change my oasis answers, sometimes they try to clarify your answers and with their explanations you do end up changing it...i think it is just the way we need to learn to look at the questions and answer in order to receive the best reimbursement,,,,i have heard that amedysis is not the company to work for, i heard they change oasis answers to suit themselves,,,very underhanded.

i have been in HH for 23 yrs and gentiva is overall a decent company to work for.

hope that helps

Thank you all for you responses. Amedysis is rumored to be opening an office here, which I am nervous about. I work for a state non for profit; and referrals have been off for many months.

Gentivia seems to be the winner!