Nature Of Operations, Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Nature Of Operations, Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Nature Of Operations, Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements

1. NATURE OF OPERATIONS, CONSOLIDATION AND PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Amedisys, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries ("Amedisys," "we," "us," or "our") are a multi-state provider of home health and hospice services with approximately 83% and 85% of our revenue derived from Medicare for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. As of March 31, 2012, we had 437 Medicare-certified home health care centers, 88 Medicare-certified hospice care centers and two hospice inpatient units in 38 states within the United States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Basis of Presentation

In our opinion, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments (consisting solely of normal recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly our financial position, our results of operations and our cash flows in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("U.S. GAAP"). Our results of operations for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of results of our operations for the entire year and have not been audited by our independent auditors.

Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been condensed or omitted from the interim financial information presented. This report should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on February 28, 2012 (the "Form 10-K"), which includes information and disclosures not included herein.

Use of Estimates

Our accounting and reporting policies conform with U.S. GAAP. In preparing the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, we are required to make estimates and assumptions that impact the amounts reported in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates.

Reclassifications and Comparability

Certain reclassifications have been made to prior periods' financial statements in order to conform to the current period's presentation. During the quarter ended March 31, 2012 and the year ended December 31, 2011, management committed to exit three and 29 care centers, respectively. In accordance with applicable accounting guidance the results of operations for these care centers are presented in discontinued operations in our condensed consolidated financial statements. See Note 3 for additional information regarding our discontinued operations.

Principles of Consolidation

These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Amedisys, Inc., and our wholly owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in our accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, and business combinations accounted for as purchases have been included in our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements from their respective dates of acquisition. In addition to our wholly owned subsidiaries, we also have certain equity investments that are accounted for as set forth below.

Equity Investments

We consolidate subsidiaries and/or joint ventures when the entity is a variable interest entity and we are the primary beneficiary or if we have controlling interests in the entity, which is generally ownership in excess of 50%. Third party equity interests in our consolidated joint ventures are reflected as noncontrolling interests in our condensed consolidated financial statements.

For subsidiaries or joint ventures in which we do not have a controlling interest or for which we are not the primary beneficiary, we record such investments under the equity method of accounting.