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For third year, Empathy Care named to Elite presigious “best” list

Empathy Care has been named to the 2010 HomeCare Elite list of the top 25 percent of Medicare-certified home health care agencies in the United States.

It was the third year in a row that Empathy Care was honored with the distinction.

The organization measures thousands of agencies across the country for quality care, quality improvement, and financial performance. Being named to the list is an important distinction that means you can be confident you or your loved one is provided the best professional care available.

“I am not surprised that Empathy Care was once more chosen,” said P. Steve Mulder, president of Empathy Care. Mulder credits the hard work and competence of all Empathy Care employees for the award. “In fact, I believe we would have placed even higher had the standards been at a higher level. I am so grateful for everything they have achieved and proud of the care they have delivered to so many.”

HomeCare Elite, now in its fifth year, is recognized as the definitive source of compilation of home health care agencies that must abide by strict standards for Medicare certification. HomeCare Elite is brought to the industry by OCS. Inc., the leading provider of home care information, and by DecisionHealth, publisher of home care's most respected independent newsletter Home Health Line.

Data used in the HomeCare Elite analysis is compiled from publicly available information. Read more about the award at OCS. Inc.'s HomeCare Elite web page.

—Winter 2011

Empathy Care joins effort to educate legislators on home health care

It may seem obvious to even the most casual observer how important it is to maintain excellent home health care service. But in an industry laden with regulatory oversight, sometimes the message gets lost, confused, or even degraded.

To ensure that Florida legislators fully grasp the complexities that drive our industry, Empathy's Director of Nursing Beverly Parkis and Attending Physician Dr. James Frank actively participated in the 2010 Legislative Session in Tallahassee.

After preparing advance material for months, the pair, led by Beverly Parkis as a team leader on behalf of the Home Health Care Association of Florida, departed on April 7 for the state's Capitol to meet with legislators. Their mission, along with other HCAF participants, was to discus home health care issues, regulatory problems, and be part of HCAF's public awareness initiative, "The Faces of Home Health Care."

—April 2010

Empathy Care participates in national home health care improvement campaign

When it comes to providing excellent home health care service, the status quo just isn’t good enough. To ensure that superior service is always the norm, Empathy Care is pleased to be a participant in the Home Health Quality Improvement National Campaign.

The campaign is a grassroots movement designed to unite home health stakeholders and multiple health care settings under the shared vision of reducing avoidable hospitalizations and improving medication management. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has contracted with WVMI & Quality Insights to lead this national initiative across settings. CMS administers the Medicare program.

At the focal point of its educational efforts is new multimedia Best Practice Intervention Packages (BPIPs) designed to educate home health agencies. In 2007 and 2008, more than 5,500 home health agencies joined the first HHQI National Campaign. Together they learned, shared best practices and improved the care provided to their patients. The foundation of the new HHQI national campaign lies in the roots of successful efforts in the first campaign.

—January 2010

Get help for lymphedema with Empathy Care’s team of specialized clinicians

If you suffer from lymphedema or know someone who does, we can help. We’ve added a team of specialized clinicians who can effectively manage this condition, which is an accumulation of fluid in superficial tissues that typically affects a person’s extremities such as the arms or legs. The condition can stem from a malformation of the lymphatic system or can arise from injury, excision or radiation therapy to the lymph nodes. People with lymphedema can become debilitated as a result of the excessive swelling.

Our trained professionals manage the condition with a non-invasive approach known as “Complete Decongestive Therapy,” which is comprised of four components. Those components are manual lymph drainage, compression therapy, decompression exercises and skin care.

If you have lymphedema, our staff would be honored to help make a difference in your life. Call us at 561-395-9101 for more information. Meanwhile, read more about this condition at on our Lymphedema Therapy page and the National Lymphedema Network.

—Fall 2009

Our medical director honored by Consumers Research Council of America

Dr. Owen Barruw, Empathy Care’s medical director since 1999, was recently recognized by Consumers Research Council of America as one of America’s top physicians for the fourth consecutive year.

That’s quite a distinction, and we’re pleased to have Dr. Barruw playing such an instrumental role in shepherding our operations. As medical director, he serves as primary medical advisor to our governing body, program personnel, and to patients and their families. His function is broad and important to us. Not only does he provide on-going supervision for the clinical staff, but he oversees, participates in, and supervises our treatment planning process and therapies.

—Summer 2007