Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Encompass Health (EHC) Opens EHR-Backed Hospital in Florida

Read MoreHide Full Article

Encompass Health Corporation (EHC - Free Report) recently inaugurated a post-acute inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Jacksonville, FL, which takes EHC’s hospital count to 150 across the United States. It is worth mentioning that the newly opened hospital is integrated with the electronic health record (EHR) system of Oracle Cerner Corporation, which has been benefiting Encompass Health for quite a long time.

Apart from expanding nationwide presence, the continuous inauguration of hospitals backed by the Oracle Cerner technology enables Encompass Health clinicians to improve health outcomes for patients. The technology has not only benefited the clinicians of the hospital significantly but also upgraded operational efficiencies of EHC.

Deployment of the Oracle Cerner technology across every Encompass Health facility empowers clinicians to learn and utilize a single platform while working at any hospital of the integrated healthcare services provider (EHC - Free Report) . In fact, a single platform promotes documentation efficiency and removes the need for clinicians to have an in-depth understanding of multiple systems and workflows, which saves time.  

The widespread success of Encompass Health while utilizing Oracle Cerner’s technology has probably persuaded it to integrate the same within each of its hospitals. The first time EHC collaborated with Oracle Cerner was back in 2009 to fit the latter’s EHR system within one of the former’s inpatient rehabilitation hospitals. Thereafter, the technology was piloted for two years across three of Encompass Health’s facilities. The successful pilot encouraged the partners to deploy the standardized EHR system in all the hospitals of EHC across the United States in 2011.

Encompass Health has been sincerely pursuing its growth strategy with the help of Oracle Cerner technology. The growth strategy of EHC entails the realization of expected revenues, cost savings and productivity advancements. Meanwhile, the technology has aided Encompass Health to successfully close and integrate developments, buyouts, investments and joint ventures. As a testament to the same, the Oracle Cerner technology has helped Encompass Health to inaugurate 61 de novo or purchase hospitals since 2011. Based on the efficiency of the technology, promising plans remain in place to include six to 10 hospitals each year within EHC’s nationwide hospital count.

Consequently, the back-to-back opening of such inpatient rehabilitation hospitals is expected to drive revenues of Encompass Health’s Inpatient Rehabilitation segment, which usually contributes the most to its overall revenues. The dire need for comprehensive rehabilitation services, which helps people recovering from chronic illnesses and injuries return to normal daily activities, is expected to provide impetus to Encompass Health’s ardent endeavor to expand its inpatient rehabilitation hospital portfolio.

Shares of Encompass Health have lost 11.4% in the past six months compared with the industry’s decline of 27%.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Encompass Health currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the Medical space are UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH - Free Report) , Assertio Holdings, Inc. (ASRT - Free Report) and AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (AMN - Free Report) . While Assertio and AMN Healthcare flaunt a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), UnitedHealth Group carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

UnitedHealth Group’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 3.73%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for UNH’s 2022 earnings suggests an improvement of 14.4% from the year-ago reported figure, while the same for revenues indicates growth of 11.6%. UnitedHealth Group has a VGM Score of A.

Assertio has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 26.39%, on average.  The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ASRT’s 2022 earnings is pegged at 40 cents, which compares favorably with a loss of 3 cents reported in the  year-ago period. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Assertio’s 2022 earnings has moved north by 14.3% in the past 30 days.

The bottom line of AMN Healthcare outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 15.60%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMN’s 2022 earnings indicates a rise of 30.3% year over year, while the same for revenues suggests an improvement of 25.9%. The consensus mark for AMN Healthcare’s 2022 earnings has moved north by 3.3% in the past 30 days.

Assertio stock has gained 35.7% in the past six months. Meanwhile, shares of UnitedHealth Group and AMN Healthcare have lost 6% and 16.5%, respectively, in the same time frame.

Published in