Option Care still bullish on buying

BANNOCKBURN, Ill. – Option Care Health still sees plenty of opportunity to grow through acquisitions, but it plans to stick closer to its core business of home infusion, said company execs on a recent earnings call. 

It’s a sign the company has moved on from its terminated $3.6 billion merger in June with Amedysis, a provider of home health, hospice and high-acuity care.  

“We really thought that Amedisys was unique in its capability set, certainly with its reach in the (Medicare) Star Ratings, as well as some of its additional capabilities,” said CEO John Rademacher. “We still believe that there is opportunity for us to play a meaningful role in the home, with the nursing reaches that we have and find ways to have better coordination of care for the patients that we serve.” 

Related to the Amedysis transaction, Option Care has completed a repurchase of approximately $100 million in stock roughly equal to the $106 million breakup fee and has repurchased $175 million in stock year-to-date. 

Rademacher said M&A remains a “cornerstone” of the company’s plans to drive value for shareholders as it builds on its base business of home infusion, but he didn't provide color on possible targets.  

“We'll be closer to the core home infusion, alternate site and infusion business,” he said. “I don't want to box us in too much on that. We're always going to take a look for opportunities to expand our capability set to ensure that we remain and increase our relevance with our partners in the marketplace across the key stakeholders of biopharma, of our payers and of our prescribers in the marketplace.” 

Option Care is also focused on further organic growth, in particular through its ambulatory infusion suites. During the quarter, it added five such suites, for a total of around 160 with 650 chairs, representing about 29% of total nursing visits, said CFO Mike Shapiro. 

“We're highly encouraged by the traction,” he said. “And again, this is part of the snowball rolling down the hill because part of it is making sure we have those infusion suites strategically located near the patient densities of those chronic cohorts.”