Addus Homecare Corp (ADUS) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Addus HomeCare's first-quarter 2026 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.

早安，歡迎參加 Addus HomeCare 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 請注意，本活動將被錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Dru Anderson. Please go ahead.

現在我想把會議交給 Dru Anderson。請開始。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to the Addus HomeCare Corporation first-quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Today's call is being recorded. To the extent any non-GAAP financial measure is discussed in today's call, you will find a reconciliation of that measure to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated according to GAAP by going to the company's website and reviewing yesterday's news release.

謝謝。早安，歡迎參加 Addus HomeCare Corporation 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。今天的電話會議將被錄音。若今天的電話會議中討論任何非 GAAP 財務衡量指標，您可前往公司網站並查閱昨日新聞稿，以取得該指標與依 GAAP 計算之最直接可比財務衡量指標的調節表。

This conference call may also contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements, among others, regarding Addus' expected quarterly and annual financial performance for 2026 or beyond. For this purpose, any statements made during this call that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements.

本電話會議亦可能包含《1995 年私人證券訴訟改革法》所界定的前瞻性陳述，其中包括但不限於關於 Addus 對 2026 年或其後預期之季度及年度財務表現的陳述。就此而言，本次電話會議中任何非歷史事實之陳述，均可能被視為前瞻性陳述。

Without limiting the foregoing, discussions of forecasts, estimates, targets, plans, beliefs, expectations and the like are intended to identify forward-looking statements. You are hereby cautioned that these statements may be affected by important factors, among others, set forth in Addus' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in its first-quarter 2026 news release.

在不限制前述內容之前提下，對預測、估計、目標、計畫、信念、預期等之討論，旨在辨識前瞻性陳述。特此提醒您，這些陳述可能受到重要因素影響（其中包括但不限於）Addus 向美國證券交易委員會提交之文件及其 2026 年第一季新聞稿中所載之因素。

Consequently, actual operations and results may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

因此，實際營運與結果可能與前瞻性陳述中討論之結果存在重大差異。公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述之義務，不論係因新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。

I would now like to turn the call over to the company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Dirk Allison. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我想把電話會議交給公司董事長兼執行長 Dirk Allison 先生。先生，請開始。

Thank you, Dru. Good morning, and welcome to our 2026 first-quarter Earnings Call. With me today are Brian Poff, our Chief Financial Officer; and Heather Dixon, our President and Chief Operating Officer. As we do on each of our quarterly earnings calls. I will begin with a few overall comments, and then Brian will discuss the first-quarter results in more detail.

謝謝你，Dru。早安，歡迎參加我們 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有：我們的財務長 Brian Poff，以及我們的總裁兼營運長 Heather Dixon。如同我們每一季的財報電話會議一樣，我將先做幾點整體性說明，接著 Brian 會更詳細地討論第一季的結果。

Following our comments, the three of us would be happy to respond to any questions. As we announced yesterday afternoon, our total revenue for the first-quarter of 2026 was $363.6 million, an increase of 7.7% as compared to $337.7 million for the first-quarter of 2025. This revenue growth resulted in an adjusted earnings per share of $1.62 as compared to adjusted earnings per share for the first-quarter of '25 of $1.42, an increase of 14.1%.

在我們發言之後，我們三位很樂意回答各位的問題。如同我們昨天下午所宣布的，2026 年第一季總營收為 3.636 億美元，較 2025 年第一季的 3.377 億美元成長 7.7%。此營收成長帶動調整後每股盈餘為 1.62 美元，相較於 2025 年第一季調整後每股盈餘 1.42 美元，成長 14.1%。

Our adjusted EBITDA was $44.5 million compared to $40.6 million for the first-quarter of 2025, an increase of 9.7%. For the first-quarter of 2026, cash flow from operations was $52.4 million as compared to $18.9 million for the same period in 2025. As of March 31, 2026, we had cash on hand of approximately $103 million.

調整後 EBITDA 為 4,450 萬美元，較 2025 年第一季的 4,060 萬美元成長 9.7%。2026 年第一季營運活動現金流量為 5,240 萬美元，相較於 2025 年同期的 1,890 萬美元。截至 2026 年 3 月 31 日，我們手上現金約為 1.03 億美元。

With our strong cash flow in the first-quarter, we reduced our bank debt to $94.3 million, leaving us with the financial flexibility to consider larger acquisitions as we continue to pursue expansion of our market reach and creating geographic density. During the first-quarter, we saw an impact on revenue due to the widespread weather event that occurred towards the end of January.

憑藉第一季強勁的現金流，我們將銀行負債降至 9,430 萬美元，使我們具備財務彈性，可在持續擴大市場觸及並建立地理密度的同時，考慮更大型的併購案。第一季期間，我們的營收受到 1 月底發生之大範圍天候事件的影響。

Our team did a good job of rescheduling affected personal care visits where possible. However, we could not make up for every weather-impacted missed visit. While the amount of the revenue was immaterial to our company overall, we did see a loss of revenue of approximately $1.5 million as a result of these storms. However, February and March returned to our normalized revenue expectations.

我們的團隊在可行的情況下，妥善地重新安排受影響的個人照護到訪。然而，我們無法彌補每一次因天候影響而缺失的到訪。雖然該營收金額對公司整體而言並不重大，但我們確實因這些風暴而損失約 150 萬美元的營收。不過，2 月與 3 月已回到我們正常化的營收預期。

As we announced on May 1, we closed on the acquisition of the personal care operations of HomeCourt Home Care based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This acquisition marks our entry into an attractive state, which is adjacent to our largest personal care market of Illinois. We have been interested in Indiana for some time as over the past three years, they increased rates and work to eliminate client wait lists.

如同我們在 5 月 1 日所宣布的，我們已完成收購位於印第安納州韋恩堡（Fort Wayne）的 HomeCourt Home Care 之個人照護業務營運。此收購標誌著我們進入一個具吸引力的州，且該州與我們最大個人照護市場伊利諾州相鄰。我們對印第安納州已關注一段時間，因為過去三年該州提高費率並致力於消除客戶等候名單。

I'm excited to welcome all of our new team members from HomeCourt Home Care. We have also entered into a definitive purchase agreement for an additional personal care operation in Indiana, which will complement HomeCourt Home Care. We anticipate that this additional Indiana acquisition should close in the coming months, subject to customary regulatory approvals.

我很高興歡迎來自 HomeCourt Home Care 的所有新團隊成員加入。我們也已就印第安納州另一項個人照護業務簽署具約束力的收購協議，該業務將與 HomeCourt Home Care 形成互補。在取得慣常的監管核准之前提下，我們預期這項額外的印第安納州收購案將於未來數月內完成交割。

These two acquisitions continue our strategy of entering new markets with scale and where we have the ability to expand our services. As we mentioned on our last earnings call, the State of Illinois increased our rates in personal care service effective on January 1, 2026, adding approximately $17.5 million in annualized revenues.

這兩項收購延續我們的策略：以具規模的方式進入新市場，並在我們有能力擴展服務的地區布局。如同我們在上次財報電話會議提到的，伊利諾州自 2026 年 1 月 1 日起調升個人照護服務費率，年化營收約增加 1,750 萬美元。

This most recent rate increase continues to show the important support we are receiving from our state partners as we continue to provide these much-needed services to our elderly and disabled clients. We also understand the New Mexico legislature included increased funding of $10 million for home and community-based services in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

這次最新的費率調升，持續顯示我們在為高齡與身心障礙客戶提供這些迫切需要的服務時，正獲得州政府合作夥伴的重要支持。我們也了解到，新墨西哥州立法機關在即將到來的會計年度預算中，為居家與社區式服務增加了 1,000 萬美元的資金。

We are waiting for communications from the New Mexico Medicaid Department regarding how and to which programs the funding will be expended. As we have stated before, we continue to believe that the 80-20 provision of the CMS Medicaid access rule will be eliminated in the near future. While implementation is still several years away and has no current impact on our business or financial performance, we believe this outcome would be an encouraging development for both our industry and our company.

我們正等待新墨西哥州 Medicaid 部門的通知，了解該資金將如何以及用於哪些計畫。如同我們先前所述，我們仍然相信 CMS Medicaid 可近性規則中的 80-20 條款將在不久的將來被取消。雖然距離實施仍有數年，且目前對我們的業務或財務表現沒有影響，但我們認為此結果將是對我們產業與公司皆具鼓舞性的發展。

All our recent communications indicate that this part of the Medicaid access rule is expected to be eliminated this year. During the first-quarter of 2026, we continued to experience positive hiring trends in our Personal Care segment. Our number of hires per business day in the first-quarter of 2026 was 108, up sequentially from 103 hires per day in the fourth-quarter of last year and consistent with the first-quarter of 2025.

我們近期所有的溝通資訊均顯示，Medicaid 可近性規則的這一部分預期將於今年被取消。在 2026 年第一季，我們在個人照護（Personal Care）部門持續呈現正向的招募趨勢。2026 年第一季我們每日（以營業日計）平均聘用人數為 108 人，較去年第四季每日 103 人呈現連續成長，且與 2025 年第一季一致。

We achieved this number in spite of the impact of the weather event I mentioned earlier. As we have mentioned in the last few quarters, our clinical hiring remains consistent and has been mostly stable outside of a few of our urban markets. However, even in those markets, we have been able to staff our operations appropriately. Now let me discuss our same-store revenue growth for the first-quarter of 2026.

即便受到我先前提到的天候事件影響，我們仍達成此數字。如同我們在過去幾季所提到的，我們的臨床人員招募維持一致，除少數都會市場外大致穩定。然而，即便在那些市場，我們也能適當地為營運配置人力。現在讓我談談 2026 年第一季的同店營收成長。

For our Personal Care segment, our same-store revenue growth was 6.5% compared to the first-quarter of 2025. During the first-quarter of 2026, we saw personal care same-store hours increased by 2.2% compared to the same period in 2025, while our percentage of authorized hours served in the first-quarter remained consistent with what we experienced in the fourth-quarter of 2025.

就個人照護部門而言，我們的同店營收成長率較 2025 年第一季為 6.5%。在 2026 年第一季，我們看到個人照護同店工時較 2025 年同期增加 2.2%，而第一季已服務之核准工時占比則與 2025 年第四季的情況一致。

On a sequential basis, personal care same-store census was down slightly, partially due to the weather we mentioned before. However, during the first-quarter, we saw growth in clients served in Illinois, our largest market, which is something we had anticipated for a while. This is important as we look to achieve year-over-year census growth during 2026. Turning to our clinical operations.

以連續季度來看，個人照護同店日均服務人數略有下降，部分原因是我們先前提到的天氣因素。然而，在第一季期間，我們在伊利諾伊州（我們最大的市場）所服務的客戶人數出現成長，這也是我們一段時間以來所預期的。這點很重要，因為我們希望在 2026 年達成年對年的人數成長。接著談我們的臨床營運。

Our hospice same-store revenue increased 7.7% compared to the first-quarter of 2025. Our average daily census increased to 3,804 for the first-quarter, up from 3,515 for the same period last year, an increase of 8.2%. For the first-quarter of 2026, our hospice median length of stay was 23 days as compared to 25 days for the fourth-quarter of 2025 and 19 days for the first-quarter of 2025.

我們的安寧療護同店營收較 2025 年第一季成長 7.7%。第一季的平均日均服務人數提升至 3,804 人，較去年同期的 3,515 人增加 8.2%。2026 年第一季，我們安寧療護的住院中位天數為 23 天，相較於 2025 年第四季的 25 天以及 2025 年第一季的 19 天。

We are very pleased by the continued growth in our hospice segment over the past several quarters. While our home health same-store revenue decreased when compared to the same quarter of 2025, our home health operating income improved over last year's first-quarter and sequentially versus the fourth-quarter of 2025.

我們對過去數季安寧療護事業部持續成長感到非常滿意。雖然我們的居家健康同店營收較 2025 年同季下滑，但居家健康的營業利益較去年第一季改善，且相較 2025 年第四季亦呈現連續季度改善。

It is also important to understand that over 25% of our hospice admissions in New Mexico and now Tennessee are coming from our own Addus home health operations, which overlap in these two markets as we continue to focus on our bridge program. We are pleased to see more patients receiving the benefit of the full continuum of post-acute home-based care and anticipate seeing similar clinical teamwork develop in Illinois, where we also have both home health and hospice operations.

同時也很重要的一點是，我們在新墨西哥州以及現在的田納西州，超過 25% 的安寧療護收案來自我們自有的 Addus 居家健康營運；隨著我們持續聚焦於橋接計畫，這兩個市場的業務彼此重疊。我們很高興看到更多病患能受惠於急性後期、以居家為基礎照護的完整連續體，並預期在伊利諾伊州也會看到類似的臨床團隊合作發展，因為我們在當地同時擁有居家健康與安寧療護營運。

We continue to believe that size and scale are important to health care services and have been the focus of our strategy for the past 10 years. We continue to evaluate opportunities, which would increase both density and geographic coverage as well as seek to further strengthen our relationships with states and managed care organizations. Recently, we have begun to see an increasing number of personal care opportunities.

我們仍然相信，規模與量體對醫療照護服務至關重要，並且一直是我們過去 10 年策略的重點。我們持續評估可同時提升密度與地理覆蓋範圍的機會，並尋求進一步強化我們與各州政府及管理式照護組織的關係。近期，我們開始看到個人照護方面的機會數量增加。

Due to our focus on maintaining a conservative balance sheet, we have the ability to actively pursue these transactions. Recently, there appears to be more optimism around home health care due to the final home health rule for 2026 being more favorable than was originally proposed. While there is still some uncertainty about the future rate increases, there does seem to be more potential activity in home health care.

由於我們專注於維持保守的資產負債表，我們有能力積極追求這些交易。近期，隨著 2026 年居家健康最終規則較原先提案更為有利，市場對居家健康照護似乎更為樂觀。儘管未來費率調升仍存在一些不確定性，但居家健康照護確實看起來有更多潛在活動。

While we will be open to home health opportunities, we will continue to be diligent as we evaluate possible transactions to further our strategy. Before I turn the call over to Brian, it is important that I thank the Addus team for the care they are providing to our elderly and disabled consumers and patients. We all have come to understand that the majority of this population prefers to receive care at home, which not only remains one of the safest but also the most cost-effective places to receive this care.

雖然我們會對居家健康的機會保持開放，但在評估可能的交易以推進我們的策略時，我們仍將持續審慎。在我把電話交給 Brian 之前，我必須感謝 Addus 團隊為我們的高齡與身心障礙消費者及病患所提供的照護。我們都已理解，這個族群中的多數人偏好在家中接受照護；家中不僅仍是最安全的場所之一，也是在成本上最具效益的照護地點。

We believe the heightened awareness of the value of home-based care is favorable for our industry and will continue to be a growth opportunity for our company. We understand and appreciate that our operations and growth are dependent on both our dedicated caregivers and other employees who work so incredibly hard providing outstanding care and support to our clients, patients and their families.

我們相信，對居家照護價值的高度認知有利於本產業，並將持續成為我們公司的成長機會。我們理解並感謝，我們的營運與成長仰賴於敬業的照護人員以及其他員工；他們非常努力地為客戶、病患及其家屬提供卓越的照護與支持。

With that, let me turn the call over to Brian.

接下來，我把電話交給 Brian。

Thank you, Dirk, and good morning, everyone. The first-quarter of 2026 marked a solid start to a new year for Addus. The results for the quarter reflect our continued ability to execute our strategy and deliver consistent growth. Results were highlighted by a 7.7% increase in top line revenue to $363.6 million and a 9.7% increase in adjusted EBITDA to $44.5 million when compared with the first-quarter of 2025.

謝謝你，Dirk，各位早安。2026 年第一季為 Addus 新年度帶來穩健的開局。本季結果反映我們持續執行策略並交付一致成長的能力。本季亮點包括：營收（上線營收）年增 7.7% 至 3.636 億美元，以及調整後 EBITDA 年增 9.7% 至 4,450 萬美元，皆相較於 2025 年第一季。

Our Personal Care Services segment, which accounted for 77.3% of our revenues, was a key driver of our business. Revenues for the segment grew to $281.1 million, an increase of 8.8% overall and an increase of 6.5% on a same-store basis compared to the same quarter last year. We are continuing to see contributions from our acquisition of Gentiva's Personal Care operations in late 2024 and the acquisitions of Helping Hands home care services and Del Cielo Home Care, both of which were acquired in the back half of 2025.

我們的個人照護服務事業部占營收 77.3%，是推動業務的關鍵動能。該事業部營收成長至 2.811 億美元，整體年增 8.8%，同店基礎年增 6.5%，相較去年同季。我們持續看到 2024 年底收購 Gentiva 個人照護業務，以及 2025 年下半年收購 Helping Hands 居家照護服務與 Del Cielo Home Care 兩項收購案所帶來的貢獻。

The revenues of Gentiva's Personal Care operations are included in our same-store numbers for the first time this quarter. In addition to higher volumes, we are continuing to benefit from rate support in some of our key state markets including our two largest in Illinois and Texas. Our first-quarter results included the impact of the 3.9% rate increase in Illinois, which became effective on January 1, 2026, and as well as the 9.9% rate increase in Texas that became effective on September 1, 2025.

本季為首次將 Gentiva 個人照護業務的營收納入我們的同店數據。除量能提升外，我們也持續受惠於部分主要州市場的費率支持，其中包括我們最大的兩個市場：伊利諾伊州與德州。我們第一季結果包含伊利諾伊州自 2026 年 1 月 1 日生效的 3.9% 費率調升影響，以及德州自 2025 年 9 月 1 日生效的 9.9% 費率調升影響。

Our hospice care business continued to perform well and accounted for 18.1% of revenues for the first-quarter. Our hospice revenues were $65.8 million, with a same-store increase of 7.7% over the same period last year and year-over-year improvement in average daily census. For the period, Home Health Services, our smallest segment, accounted for 4.6% of first-quarter revenue at $16.7 million.

我們的安寧療護業務持續表現良好，第一季占營收 18.1%。安寧療護營收為 6,580 萬美元，同店較去年同期成長 7.7%，且平均日均服務人數年對年改善。本期間，居家健康服務（我們最小的事業部）占第一季營收 4.6%，金額為 1,670 萬美元。

We continue to look for ways to support and expand our home health service line, including through acquisitions, as we believe important synergies can be realized by offering multiple levels of home-based care in the markets we serve. Yesterday, we announced two transactions in Indiana, HomeCourt Home Care based in Fort Wayne which closed on May 1, and the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire additional operations of a similar size in the state.

我們持續尋找支持並擴展居家健康服務線的方法，包括透過併購；因為我們相信，在我們服務的市場中提供多層級的居家照護，可實現重要的協同效益。昨天，我們宣布在印第安納州的兩項交易：位於韋恩堡（Fort Wayne）的 HomeCourt Home Care（已於 5 月 1 日完成交割），以及簽署一份具約束力的最終協議，以收購該州另一項規模相近的額外營運。

Currently, HomeCourt serves approximately 240 clients with annual revenues of approximately $9.7 million. We anticipate our second acquisition in the state will close later this year. We believe our announced expansion into Indiana, a new market for Addus is aligned with our strategy of broadening our geographic coverage with density and scale.

目前，HomeCourt 服務約 240 名客戶，年營收約 970 萬美元。我們預期在該州的第二項收購將於今年稍晚完成交割。我們相信，這次宣布進軍印第安納州（Addus 的新市場）符合我們透過密度與規模擴大地理覆蓋範圍的策略。

Our team looks forward to welcoming the clients and caregivers to the Addus family. We intend to provide additional details on the second acquisition when regulatory considerations permit. Strategic opportunities will continue to play a role in our long-term growth planning. Our primary focus will be on identifying opportunities where we can leverage geographic coverage and density providing us with a competitive advantage.

我們的團隊期待歡迎客戶與照護人員加入 Addus 大家庭。在法規考量允許時，我們打算就第二項收購提供更多細節。策略性機會將持續在我們的長期成長規劃中扮演角色。我們的首要重點將放在辨識可運用地理覆蓋與密度、從而為我們帶來競爭優勢的機會。

We will also seek opportunities to add services to meet our ultimate objective of offering multiple levels of care in the markets we serve. With our size and expanding scale and the support of a strong balance sheet, we are well positioned to execute our strategy. As Dirk noted, total net service revenues for the first-quarter were $363.6 million.

我們也將尋求增加服務的機會，以達成我們的最終目標：在所服務的市場中提供多層級照護。憑藉我們的規模與持續擴大的量體，以及強健資產負債表的支持，我們具備良好條件來執行策略。如 Dirk 所提，第一季的服務淨營收總額為 3.636 億美元。

The revenue breakdown is as follows: Personal Care revenues were $281.1 million or 77.3% of revenue, Hospice care revenues were $65.8 million or 18.1% of revenue and home health revenues were $16.7 million or 4.6% of revenue. Other financial results for the first-quarter of 2026 include the following: our gross margin percentage was 31.9%, consistent with the first-quarter of 2025.

營收拆分如下：個人照護（Personal Care）營收為2.811億美元，占營收的77.3%；安寧照護（Hospice care）營收為6,580萬美元，占營收的18.1%；居家健康（home health）營收為1,670萬美元，占營收的4.6%。2026年第一季的其他財務結果包括：我們的毛利率為31.9%，與2025年第一季一致。

As usual, our gross margin was affected in the first-quarter by our annual merit increases and the annual reset of payroll taxes. Looking forward, we anticipate our gross margin percentage will remain relatively stable and consistent with our historical annual pattern. G&A expense was 21.4% of revenue compared with 21.7% of revenue for the first-quarter a year ago.

如同以往，我們的毛利率在第一季會受到年度績效調薪以及薪資稅年度重設的影響。展望未來，我們預期毛利率將維持相對穩定，並與我們歷史上的年度型態一致。一般及行政（G&A）費用占營收比重為21.4%，相較去年同期第一季為21.7%。

Adjusted G&A expense for the first-quarter was 19.6% and compared with 19.9% a year ago as we continue to generate leverage from our growing revenue base. The company's adjusted EBITDA for the first-quarter of 2026 was $44.5 million compared with $40.6 million a year ago, an increase of 9.7%. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 12.2% compared with 12% for the first-quarter of 2025.

第一季調整後G&A費用占比為19.6%，相較去年同期為19.9%，因我們持續從成長的營收基礎中取得營運槓桿。公司2026年第一季調整後EBITDA為4,450萬美元，較去年同期的4,060萬美元增加9.7%。調整後EBITDA利潤率為12.2%，相較2025年第一季為12%。

Consistent with 2025, we anticipate our adjusted EBITDA margin percentage for the full year will remain above 12%. Adjusted net income per diluted share was $1.62 compared with $1.42 for the first-quarter of 2025. The adjusted per share results for the first-quarter of 2026 exclude the following: acquisition expense of $0.06 and noncash stock-based compensation expense of $0.20, including the impact of accelerated vesting for the previously announced retirement of our former President and COO.

與2025年一致，我們預期全年調整後EBITDA利潤率將維持在12%以上。稀釋後每股調整後淨利為1.62美元，較2025年第一季的1.42美元為高。2026年第一季的每股調整後結果排除以下項目：收購費用0.06美元，以及非現金的股票基礎薪酬費用0.20美元，其中包含先前宣布前任總裁兼營運長退休所導致的加速歸屬影響。

The adjusted per share results for the first-quarter of 2025 exclude the following: acquisition expenses of $0.13 and noncash stock-based compensation expense of $0.13. Our effective tax rate for the first-quarter of 2026 was 22.7%, benefiting from the excess tax benefit related to our stock compensation. For the full year 2026, we expect our tax rate to be in the mid-20% range.

2025年第一季的每股調整後結果排除以下項目：收購費用0.13美元，以及非現金的股票基礎薪酬費用0.13美元。我們2026年第一季的有效稅率為22.7%，受惠於與股票薪酬相關的超額稅務利益。對於2026年全年，我們預期稅率將落在20%中段區間。

DSOs were 36.3 days at the end of the first-quarter of 2026 compared with 38.2 days at the end of the fourth-quarter of 2025 with DSOs for the Illinois Department of Aging at 47.4 days compared with 54.7 days at the end of the fourth-quarter of 2025. As expected, we saw a resolution in some of the normal timing differences in payment cycles we experienced around year-end.

截至2026年第一季末，應收帳款週轉天數（DSO）為36.3天，較2025年第四季末的38.2天下降；其中伊利諾伊州老齡事務部（Illinois Department of Aging）的DSO為47.4天，較2025年第四季末的54.7天下降。如預期，我們看到年末前後付款週期中部分正常的時間差異已獲得解決。

Our net cash flow from operations was $52.4 million for the first-quarter of 2026, a strong start to the year. As of March 31, 2026, the company had cash of $103.1 million with capacity and availability under our revolving credit facility of $650 million and $547.8 million, respectively. Total bank debt was $94.3 million at the end of the quarter a reduction of $30 million from the end of the fourth-quarter of 2025.

我們2026年第一季的營運活動淨現金流為5,240萬美元，為今年帶來強勁開局。截至2026年3月31日，公司持有現金1.031億美元；我們循環信用額度（revolving credit facility）的總額度與可動用額度分別為6.50億美元與5.478億美元。季末銀行總負債為9,430萬美元，較2025年第四季末減少3,000萬美元。

We have continued to reduce our revolver balance in the second-quarter of 2026, with $10 million paid to date. We have a capital structure that supports continued pursuit of our strategic initiatives. Looking ahead, we expect to maintain our disciplined capital allocation strategy and continue to diligently manage our net leverage ratio while also focusing on enhancing shareholder value.

我們在2026年第二季持續降低循環信貸（revolver）餘額，截至目前已償還1,000萬美元。我們的資本結構支持持續推進策略性計畫。展望未來，我們預期將維持嚴謹的資本配置策略，並持續審慎管理淨槓桿比率，同時聚焦提升股東價值。

This concludes our prepared comments this morning, and thank you for being with us. I'll now ask the operator to please open the line for your questions.

以上為我們今天上午的預先準備發言，感謝各位與會。接下來我請接線員開放線路供各位提問。

(Operator Instructions) Brian Tanquilut, Jefferies.

(接線員指示) Brian Tanquilut，Jefferies。

Maybe I'll start, Dirk, when we think about the caregiver app rollout, I know that's something that you're working on in Texas. How do we think about the progress there? And what it will take to get it to where you want it to be as quickly as possible? And then what are the expected benefits for that? I mean, how do we think about the P&L translation of this app rollout and why it's important.

我先開始，Dirk，當我們思考照護人員App的推行時，我知道你們正在德州進行這項工作。我們該如何看待目前的進展？以及要如何才能盡快把它推進到你們希望達到的狀態？另外，預期的效益是什麼？也就是說，我們該如何看待這次App推行對損益表（P&L）的轉化，以及為什麼它很重要。

Brian, I'll start, and then Dirk can add to anything that I said. So I'll start with just the progress that we're seeing. With that Caregiver app, we now have deployed it in all three of our three largest states, Illinois, as you know, has been deployed for a while, and we're continuing to see really good utilization and uptick of that utilization throughout the state. In New Mexico, we have deployed it for a portion of our branches.

Brian，我先回答，然後Dirk可以補充我所說的任何內容。我先談我們看到的進展。就這個照護人員App而言，我們現在已在三個最大的州全面部署；如你所知，伊利諾伊州已部署一段時間，我們持續看到使用率非常好，且全州的使用率仍在上升。在新墨西哥州，我們已在部分分支機構部署。

We have some special nuances associated with the state EVV system there. So we're going to roll it out in two tranches. But we have deployed it, and we expect to be deploying to the rest of the branches soon in the coming quarters. And then finally, in Texas, we rolled it out during Q1, and we're seeing some really positive momentum in the utilization of that and caregivers actually downloading that app.

那裡與州EVV系統相關有一些特殊細節。因此我們會分兩個梯次推行。但我們已完成部署，並預期在接下來幾個季度很快會推行到其餘分支機構。最後，在德州，我們在第一季期間推出，並看到使用率出現相當正向的動能，照護人員也確實在下載這個App。

We saw even in the first few days to a week, we saw up over 10% of our caregivers had already adopted that app. So we're seeing really good momentum. And as we think about where we go from here, there are a couple of things. One, continue to roll it out to other locations, and that's really going to enable our caregivers and help us focus on increasing our service percentage. And then two, we can use that to really drive communication and really create a good engagement -- positive engagement with our caregivers.

甚至在最初幾天到一週內，我們就看到超過10%的照護人員已採用這個App。因此我們看到非常好的動能。至於接下來怎麼走，有幾件事。第一，持續推行到其他據點，這將真正賦能我們的照護人員，並幫助我們聚焦提升服務百分比。第二，我們可以利用它來推動溝通，並真正與照護人員建立良好的互動——正向的互動。

Yes, Brian, and I think what Heather just mentioned, there are the two aspects that we really focus on and why we invested in the caregiver app. You've seen positive momentum in Illinois for the percent of hours served that we believe a large part of that is directly attributed to the fact that there's the caregiver app out there, which allows to be particular caregiver to see how many hours are left on the authorization and make sure that we're serving to an appropriate amount.

是的，Brian，我認為Heather剛提到的，就是我們真正聚焦的兩個面向，也是我們投資照護人員App的原因。你已看到伊利諾伊州在已服務工時占比方面的正向動能；我們相信其中很大一部分可直接歸因於照護人員App的存在，讓特定照護人員能看到授權剩餘多少工時，並確保我們提供的服務量是適當的。

Also, we think it can allow us to be a little more sticky, as Heather said, with our caregivers, make it easier for them to know what their paycheck is going to be to know their hours served and now also the ability for them if they want to pick up additional hours we have this app out there that allows them to be able to do that in an effective manner. So those are really the benefits that we're looking for from this app.

此外，我們認為它也能讓我們如Heather所說，與照護人員的黏著度更高；讓他們更容易知道自己的薪資會是多少、已服務的工時是多少；而且現在如果他們想承接額外工時，我們也有這個App，讓他們能以有效的方式做到。以上就是我們希望從這個App獲得的主要效益。

That makes sense. And then maybe my follow-up, Heather, for you or maybe for Brian. As I think about the length of stay on the hospice side, you just gotten questions on cap risk and how you're thinking about that. So just anything you can share with us just on the hospice cap concern.

了解。那我再追問一下，Heather，給你或也許給Brian。當我思考安寧照護（hospice）端的住院/服務停留期間（length of stay）時，你們剛被問到上限（cap）風險，以及你們如何看待這件事。所以關於安寧照護cap的疑慮，你們有任何可以分享的內容嗎？

Yes, Brian, right now, we don't really have any cap consideration. We actually are managing, I think, our referral mix and our patient base pretty well. Discharge length of stay was a little higher this quarter. But again, those are just a factor of the people that actually discharged during the quarter and probably not indicative of how you would think about cap.

是的，Brian，就目前而言，我們其實沒有任何上限（cap）方面的考量。我們實際上正在管理，我認為，我們的轉介組合以及病患基礎都相當不錯。本季出院的住院天數（length of stay）略高一些。但同樣地，那只是本季實際出院人員組成的因素，可能並不代表你應該如何看待上限（cap）。

Our median length of stay, as Dirk mentioned, was 23 days, which actually is probably a little bit low for us. But I think we've got a really good mix. So no cap concerns for us at the moment.

我們的住院天數中位數，如 Dirk 所提到的，是 23 天，對我們來說其實可能偏低了一點。但我認為我們的組合非常好。所以目前我們沒有上限（cap）方面的疑慮。

Raj Kumar, Stephens.

Raj Kumar，Stephens。

Maybe just an update on the kind of budget from each of your states. I'm curious on kind of Indiana, more specifically. I know when you guys went into Texas with Gentiva, that was kind of on the front of the state passing or kind of in the process of passing a rate update. So curious on the kind of Indiana rate backdrop and any commentary there?

也許請更新一下你們各州的預算狀況。我特別想了解印第安納州的情況。我知道你們當時和 Gentiva 一起進入德州時，正好碰上該州正在通過、或處於通過費率更新的流程前段。所以想請教印第安納州的費率背景，以及你們對此有沒有任何評論？

Yes. I think in Indiana, specifically, let me talk about some other states as well, Raj. Indiana, as Dirk mentioned, we've seen some nice rate support from them over the past several years. I think if you went back about five years ago or so, I'm not sure it would have been probably quite as attractive for us, but we've seen nice support for them, a nice margin and that stay pretty consistent with where we are on a consolidated basis.

好的。Raj，我想先談印第安納州，另外也會提到一些其他州。印第安納州方面，如 Dirk 所提到的，過去幾年我們看到他們提供了不錯的費率支持。我想如果回到大約五年前左右，對我們而言可能就不會那麼有吸引力，但近年來我們確實看到他們給予良好支持、帶來不錯的利潤率，而且與我們合併口徑（consolidated basis）的水準大致一致且相當穩定。

I think the ability for us to do two acquisitions simultaneously or in close proximity gives us really good coverage. I think we've always wanted to have a pretty good footprint when we go into a new market. I think if we were to do one without the other, it probably wouldn't have been quite as attractive, but I think doing both gives us a nice -- a nice place to start in Indiana and the ability to continue to add either additional services or more density there.

我認為我們能夠同時、或在相近時間內完成兩筆收購，讓我們的覆蓋面非常好。我們一直希望在進入新市場時能有相當不錯的據點規模（footprint）。如果只做其中一筆而不做另一筆，吸引力可能就沒那麼高；但兩筆一起做，讓我們在印第安納州有一個很好的起點，也有能力持續在當地增加額外服務或提高密度。

So one more place on the map where we have opportunities. I think just thinking about it from a budgetary standpoint, Obviously, Texas is every other year. So they're not going to meet this year. So nothing to really report on that end. Dirk kind of referenced New Mexico, which has finalized their budget. There are dollars allocated for home and community-based services.

因此，地圖上又多了一個我們有機會的據點。從預算角度來看，顯然德州是每兩年一次。所以他們今年不會開會。因此那邊沒有什麼可報告的。Dirk 提到的新墨西哥州已經敲定了他們的預算。其中有資金配置給居家與社區式服務（home and community-based services）。

We're just trying to determine and get the information on the logistics of how that will pass down to providers. Indiana -- I mean, I'm sorry, Illinois, is our largest market. It is still in session. It has not been finalized their budget this year. Our understanding is there's conversations from the union as we would expect every year about our services and rates, but nothing to report.

我們正在試著確認並取得相關資訊，了解這些資金在執行面上會如何向下傳導到服務提供者。印第安納——我是說，抱歉，伊利諾州是我們最大的市場。目前仍在會期中。今年的預算尚未定案。據我們了解，工會如同往年一樣，正在就我們的服務與費率進行討論，但目前沒有可報告的進展。

We would expect them to probably finalize their budget over the next few weeks. So we'll know more then. But those are probably the three largest obviously, that we'll keep our eye on.

我們預期他們可能在接下來幾週內敲定預算。到時候我們會知道更多。但這三個州大概是最大的幾個，我們會持續關注。

Got it. And then maybe looking at home health, I guess there was a shift in the payer mix trend higher Medicaid year-over-year. I guess maybe anything to call out on that front, I guess, more intentional or just kind of how it played out. And I guess, has it been paying better than MA, if it is intentional? I'm just kind of curious on the payer mix trend for home health in the quarter.

了解。另外看居家健康（home health）方面，我想付款方組合（payer mix）似乎出現變化，Medicaid 的占比年增提高。想請教這方面有沒有什麼需要特別指出的，是更有意為之，還是只是自然發生的結果。如果是刻意的，那它的支付水準是否比 MA（Medicare Advantage，聯邦醫療保險優勢計畫）更好？我只是想了解本季居家健康的付款方組合趨勢。

Yes. I think in the quarter probably a little bit of an anomaly, we had some rate updates, some positive rate updates in one of our programs that kind of falls into that other bucket that you saw in our press release yesterday. So we saw that in the quarter, we'll probably revert back to more historical norms next quarter. Nothing intentional.

是的。我認為本季可能有點異常；我們在其中一個計畫上有一些費率更新、而且是正向的費率更新，該計畫在你昨天看到的新聞稿中被歸在「其他」那一類。所以本季我們看到了這個影響；下季可能會回到較符合歷史常態的水準。並非刻意為之。

I think, obviously, we're focused on making sure we try to get the best rate possible in the business that we take in home health. I'm trying to make sure that it's profitable. Our guys on the payer side are having conversations consistently with folks on trying to get as many episodic rates as we can and looking at taking cases that makes sense for us from a profitability perspective.

我想很明顯地，我們的重點是確保在居家健康承接的業務上，盡可能取得最好的費率。並確保它是有利可圖的。我們付款方端的同仁持續與相關人士溝通，盡可能爭取更多按療程計價（episodic）的費率，同時也會從獲利角度評估並承接對我們有意義的個案。

Matthew Gillmor, KeyBanc.

Matthew Gillmor，KeyBanc。

Maybe following up on some of the census comments for Personal Care. I think I saw the census was down a little sequentially you mentioned Illinois was up, which is encouraging. I just wanted to confirm I heard that correctly. And then maybe more broadly, I know census for personal care, oftentimes is lower in the first-quarter. And if Illinois was stronger, does that imply there was weakness elsewhere?

想追問一下個人照護（Personal Care）的人數（census）相關評論。我記得我看到人數環比（sequentially）略有下降，但你提到伊利諾州是上升的，這令人鼓舞。我只是想確認我聽得沒錯。另外更廣泛地說，我知道個人照護的人數通常在第一季會比較低。如果伊利諾州更強，是否意味著其他地方有疲弱？

Or would you just sort of categorize it as sort of normal seasonal trends. Just wanted to see if there's any other details to share on this topic.

還是你會把它歸類為正常的季節性趨勢？想看看這個主題是否還有其他細節可以分享。

Sure. I'll take that. So as Dirk mentioned, we did have some weather impact in the beginning of the quarter, and that impacted our sequential census growth. That's what you saw as a slight sequential decline. But you did hear correctly, we had census improvements throughout the quarter, and we saw gains as we exited the quarter. And I think, very importantly, March census exceeded both January and February census.

當然。我來回答。如 Dirk 所提到的，本季初我們確實受到一些天氣影響，這影響了我們的人數環比成長。你看到的就是小幅的環比下降。但你聽得沒錯，我們在整個季度中人數都有改善，而且在季度結束時看到成長。而且非常重要的是，3 月的人數高於 1 月與 2 月。

So we're focused on those sequential gains. And going forward, that should lead to year-over-year gains as we move through the next couple of quarters. And then specifically in Illinois, we were very pleased to see that start the care exceeded discharges throughout the quarter, and that led to sequential monthly improvement there as well.

所以我們聚焦在這些環比的改善。往前看，隨著接下來幾個季度推進，這應該會帶動年增（year-over-year）的成長。另外就伊利諾州而言，我們很高興看到整個季度「開始照護」（start of care）都超過出院（discharges），也帶動了當地每月的環比改善。

And so as we exited the quarter for Illinois, we saw a nice trajectory, and frankly, overall with census, and then we saw that trajectory really continue as we moved into the second-quarter as well. There is nothing to point to. It's not that Illinois is masking anything else. It's just as our largest state and one that we're very focused on. We wanted to be sure that we shared the positive improvement that we've seen there.

因此在季度結束時，就伊利諾州而言我們看到不錯的走勢；坦白說，整體人數也是如此；而且當我們進入第二季時，也看到這個走勢持續延續。沒有任何特別需要指出的。並不是伊利諾州在掩蓋其他地方的情況。只是因為它是我們最大的州，也是我們非常關注的一個州。我們希望確保把我們在那裡看到的正向改善分享出來。

That's great. Appreciate it. And then maybe following up on some regulatory topics. CMS has made some comments that have been skeptical of the self-directed care model within personal care and sort of home and community-based services. broadly, especially with some key states like New York, which I know you don't have exposure to I was curious if the skepticism on the self-directed care model created opportunities for Addus more broadly, given your focus on the agency directed model?

很好。謝謝。另外想追問一些監管議題。CMS 對個人照護以及更廣泛的居家與社區式服務（home and community-based services）中的自我導向照護（self-directed care）模式發表了一些偏懷疑的評論，尤其是在一些關鍵州（例如紐約）；我知道你們在那裡沒有曝險。我想請教，對自我導向照護模式的這種質疑，是否會因為你們專注於機構導向（agency directed）模式，而為 Addus 帶來更廣泛的機會？

Self-directed care does have an issue. You don't have anybody in between the patient and the caregiver and the patient to make sure that the survice is actually being performed. So it's -- the state has a little more responsibility on themselves to do that. So we saw in New York that it was a program that was probably in our mind, going to have issues and not really sustainable.

自我導向照護確實有一個問題。你在病患與照護者之間沒有任何中介者，也沒有第三方在病患與照護者之間把關，確保服務確實有被執行。因此——州政府就必須在這方面承擔更多責任來做到這件事。所以我們在紐約看到，這個計畫在我們看來很可能會出問題，而且不太具可持續性。

That's why we left New York. There's also issues out in California. There is a large issue out there because it's self-directed care. We don't participate in medical out there, most of the business we have is VA and private pay. But as you look at it, we've been saying for years, Personal Care is a great service and much needed and saves the states a lot of money but it needs to be done in the right way.

這就是我們離開紐約的原因。加州那邊也有問題。那裡有一個很大的問題，因為它是自我導向照護。我們在那邊不參與醫療（Medicaid），我們的大部分業務是退伍軍人事務部（VA）和自費。但整體來看，我們多年來一直在說，個人照護是一項很棒、非常需要的服務，也能為各州省下很多錢，但必須以正確的方式來做。

And one of the things that is an advantage to having the companies like Addus and others sit out there hiring the caregiver and matching them with the patient is that we have responsibilities to do a lot of extra things to make sure that service is being provided. Whether that's supervisory visits, actually in person calls on the telephone, we have EVV. We have to make sure that the client shows up.

而像 Addus 以及其他公司在那裡招募照護者並把他們與病患配對，其中一個優勢是：我們有責任做很多額外的事情，以確保服務確實有被提供。不論是督導訪視、實際的電話聯繫，我們也有 EVV（電子訪視驗證）。我們必須確保個案確實到場。

I mean the caregiver shows up and stays the amount of time when they leave so that we're billing a proper number of hours. So there's a lot of compliance issues that are placed on companies like Addus as opposed to the self-directed care where there's very little, if any, of those. So we think it's a real encouragement to our industry. From our standpoint, we agree with the fact that there needs to be a look and make sure that when you're paid for services, those services are being rendered. We think that will benefit a company like Addus.

我是說，確保照護者到場，並且待滿應有的時間、離開時也有記錄，這樣我們才能開立正確的計費時數。因此，相較於自我導向照護（幾乎沒有、即便有也很少這類要求），像 Addus 這樣的公司會被加諸很多合規要求。所以我們認為這對我們產業是一個很大的鼓勵。就我們的立場而言，我們同意必須檢視並確保：當你為服務付費時，那些服務確實有被提供。我們認為這將有利於像 Addus 這樣的公司。

Sean Dodge, BMO Capital Markets.

Sean Dodge，BMO 資本市場。

It's Chris Charlton on for Sean here. Maybe back on Personal Care. You've again driven strong growth in same-store a billable hours even amid a declining census. Can you just share some more detail on some of the dynamics behind the strength here and continuing to fill a strong percentage of the authorized hours and kind of how you anticipate that evolving throughout the year as you expect to return to some census growth?

我是代替 Sean 的 Chris Charlton。或許再回到個人照護。即使服務人數（census）在下降，你們同店可計費時數仍再次帶動了強勁成長。你能否再多分享一些，這裡強勁表現背後的動能細節，以及你們持續填補（提供）相當高比例的核准時數（authorized hours）的情況；並談談當你們預期回到一定的服務人數成長時，這在今年內你們預期會如何演變？

Sure. Sure. I'll take that. Chris, I'll start with talking about billable hours and sort of what we're doing that really fuels that growth in billable hours. A couple of things specifically. One, we're working on refining our operational processes from the support center and then also from the branch perspective, and that's particularly with scheduling and utilization of our authorized hours.

當然。當然。我來回答。Chris，我先談可計費時數，以及我們做了哪些事情真正推動可計費時數的成長。具體來說有幾點。第一，我們正在從支援中心以及分點（branch）的角度，精進我們的營運流程，特別是在排班以及核准時數的使用率方面。

And then as we talked about just a couple of minutes ago, we've been focused on creating tools and deploying them that will help our providers, actually, the caregivers have access to those hours as well, and that's in the form of the app. What we have seen is improvement in that service percentage or fill rate. So the hours that we are posting are really a higher utilization of the authorized hours.

另外，正如我們幾分鐘前提到的，我們一直專注於打造並部署工具，協助我們的服務提供者——其實也讓照護者能取得這些時數——這就是以 App 的形式。我們看到服務比例或填補率（fill rate）有所改善。因此，我們所排出的時數，實際上是對核准時數更高的使用率。

We're seeing that in most of our states, and we're seeing that specifically where we have deployed the app and we've had some really good usage. And we would expect for that opportunity to improve the service percentage to improve as we move throughout the year, particularly as we deploy the app in Texas, one of our largest states.

我們在大多數州都看到這種情況，尤其是在我們已部署 App 且使用情況很好的地方。我們預期，隨著今年推進，提升服務比例的機會會持續改善，特別是當我們在德州（我們最大的州之一）部署 App 之後。

If you think about from Q4 to Q1, your question about even though census is down just a bit sequentially, billable hours are up. I think that's just a function of the weather that we saw earlier in the quarter and nothing else really to point to there.

如果你從第四季到第一季來看，你問到即使服務人數略為季減，可計費時數卻上升。我認為那只是本季較早時候天氣因素的影響，沒有其他特別可指向的原因。

Let me jump in on census because I know everybody is focused on that number, and it is an important number. It's not one that we get paid on billable hours. So we really focus on making sure we get the proper amount of hours per census as opposed to just census per se because you got to get the right census. You got to get the right hours from that patient coming on board to make sure that it's something we can serve appropriately and profitably.

我補充談一下服務人數（census），因為我知道大家都很關注這個數字，而且它確實重要。但我們的收費不是按服務人數，而是按可計費時數。所以我們真正專注的是，確保每位服務人數對應到適當的時數，而不是只看服務人數本身，因為你必須有「對的」服務人數。你必須從新加入的病患那裡取得「對的」時數，才能確保我們能以適當且有利潤的方式提供服務。

That being said, we do understand that people are looking at that. And I think the important thing this quarter that's very exciting to us is Illinois made the turn. And Illinois is one we really worked on the last four quarters to get it back into a growth mode. It just so happens this month, Texas was a little soft coming out in January, really. And so we saw a little bit of effect in Texas for the census for the quarter.

話雖如此，我們也理解大家會看這個指標。我認為本季對我們來說很重要、也很令人振奮的一點是：伊利諾州已經轉向。而伊利諾州是我們過去四個季度努力讓它回到成長模式的一個州。剛好這個月，德州在 1 月份出來時有點疲弱。因此，我們看到德州在本季的服務人數上有一些影響。

But by the end of the quarter, Texas was back. Illinois was continued to grow. So the important thing is we believe most of our states now are in the situation where starts of care are exceeding discharges. Sometimes you're going to have a little bit of issue in a state maybe during a quarter. But the general trend is we think we've seen that change. And now we think all three of our big states are in that particular situation where we should grow census.

但到季末時，德州已經回來了。伊利諾州則持續成長。所以重點是，我們相信現在我們大多數州都處於「開始照護（starts of care）」超過「出院（discharges）」的狀態。有時候某個州在某一季可能會有一點狀況。但整體趨勢是，我們認為我們已經看到這個變化。現在我們認為，我們三個最大的州都處於這種狀態，也就是我們應該能讓服務人數成長。

Okay. That's helpful. And then on home health, obviously, there was some encouraging adjustments to the final rate from CMS there last year. As you kind of come up on their initial proposal for 2027 rates in the coming months. Maybe just qualitatively, can you just share some thoughts on the backdrop and kind of what you would like to see initially just kind of give everyone some clarity that the environment might be starting to stabilize and might be looking just to be a more favorable backdrop for some opportunities there?

好的。這很有幫助。接著談居家健康（home health）。顯然，CMS 去年在最終費率上做了一些令人鼓舞的調整。接下來幾個月你們將迎來他們對 2027 年費率的初步提案。或許從定性角度，你能否分享一下整體背景，以及你希望在初步提案中看到什麼，讓大家更清楚環境可能開始趨於穩定，並且可能會成為更有利的背景，帶來一些機會？

Yes. I think I can take that one, and Dirk can add some color as well. I think in Dirk's comments, I think, obviously saw some positivity in the final rule last year. I think we're interested to see what the rule will look like this year. It feels like maybe there's more appreciation coming out of CMS for what the industry has gone through the last few years, I think, in kind of focusing on some of the areas where there might have been some issues that might have impacted the way that they've looked at reimbursement in the last few years.

可以。我想我可以回答這題，Dirk 也可以補充一些看法。我想在 Dirk 的評論中，顯然我們在去年的最終規則（final rule）裡看到一些正面訊號。我們也很想看看今年的規則會長什麼樣子。感覺 CMS 對產業過去幾年所經歷的情況，可能有更多的理解與重視；也在聚焦一些領域——那些可能存在的問題——而這些問題可能影響了他們過去幾年看待給付（reimbursement）的方式。

And the industry, I think, has been lobbying for some time for them to see that in the way that some of the things in the fraud, waste and abuse area potentially have been used in the calculation. And with those kind of maybe out of the mix and maybe identified, I think we're hopeful that, that means maybe there'll be more positivity in the rate that we'll see coming up this year. So a small segment for us.

而我認為產業界也遊說了一段時間，希望他們能在計算方式上看見：在詐欺、浪費與濫用（fraud, waste and abuse）領域的一些事項，可能被納入計算並造成影響。如果這些因素某種程度上被排除在外、或被辨識出來，我們希望這代表今年即將看到的費率可能會更偏正面。對我們來說這是一個較小的業務區塊。

We think there's a lot of synergies of having multiple lines of care. So something that we'll watch closely, but things that we're still interested in looking at.

我們認為擁有多條照護服務線之間有很大的綜效。因此這是我們會密切關注的事情，但也是我們仍有興趣持續評估的方向。

[Andrew Mok], Barclays.

[Andrew Mok]，巴克萊。

This is Jeffrey on for Andrew. So I appreciate all the color around the Personal Care segment, but maybe I just wanted to better understand Addus' exposure to self-directed personal care and the impact that's had on recent Personal Care segment results.

我是 Jeffrey，代替 Andrew 發言。我很感謝你們對個人照護（Personal Care）部門提供的各種補充說明，但我想更清楚了解 Addus 在自我導向個人照護（self-directed personal care）方面的曝險，以及這對近期個人照護部門業績造成的影響。

Yes. We don't really see an impact from self-directed care in most of our states. As we mentioned, there was some issues in New York. We left that state. California, we used to -- if you go back 10, 15 years ago, we did business in California, and California really decided to go self-directed care, and it wasn't something that we provided.

是的。在我們大多數州別，我們其實沒有看到自我導向照護帶來的影響。如同我們提到的，紐約曾有一些問題。我們已退出該州。加州方面，我們過去——如果回溯到 10、15 年前——我們曾在加州經營，而加州後來確實決定轉向自我導向照護，但那並不是我們提供的服務。

So we focused on states that really understand the difference between self-directed care and agency care. And that really goes back to what I said a few minutes ago, which was what you get with agency care is a compliance program. You get companies like Addus that are making sure that, that caregiver who may or may not just because it's called family caregiver.

因此我們聚焦在那些真正理解自我導向照護與機構式照護（agency care）差異的州。這也回到我幾分鐘前提到的重點：機構式照護所帶來的是一套合規計畫（compliance program）。你會有像 Addus 這樣的公司，確保那位照護者——不論是否只是因為被稱為家庭照護者（family caregiver）。

It may not actually be a family caregiver or a family member. It may be somebody that knew the patient and is willing to serve in that market. So for that aspect, we still do all the things. We do all the training. We make sure that EVV is in place. We go through our complete compliance program to make sure that we are being paid appropriately and that we're providing the appropriate care for the plan of care.

他/她未必真的是家庭照護者或家庭成員。也可能是認識病患、並願意在該市場提供服務的人。因此在這方面，我們仍然會做所有該做的事。我們會做所有訓練。我們確保 EVV（電子訪視驗證）到位。我們會走完整套合規流程，確保我們獲得適當的給付，並依照照護計畫（plan of care）提供適當的照護。

So really from us, the self-directed care does not have a direct impact, but we are glad to see that they're looking at self-directed care to make sure that it is following the rules just like agency care.

所以就我們而言，自我導向照護並沒有直接影響，但我們也樂見他們正在檢視自我導向照護，確保其像機構式照護一樣遵循規範。

Okay. And maybe on the hospice side, I think revenue per patient day growth was negative for the first time while could you help us better understand the dynamics there? -- including any trade-off with average length of stay?

了解。另外在安寧照護（hospice）方面，我認為每位病患日收入（revenue per patient day）的成長率首次轉為負值；你們能否協助我們更好理解其中的動態？——包括是否與平均住院天數（average length of stay）之間有任何取捨？

Yes. I think there's two elements to that this quarter. I think primarily, we talked last year that we had some positive impact from the implicit price concession or revenue adjustment, whichever term you want to use. And I think we had indicated we expected that revert back to kind of historical norms. And I think that's where we were this quarter.

是的。我認為本季有兩個因素。首先，我們去年提到過，隱含價格讓步（implicit price concession）或收入調整（revenue adjustment）——不論你想用哪個詞——曾帶來一些正面影響。而我們也指出，我們預期那會回到較接近歷史常態的水準。我認為本季就是如此。

So that definitely was part of the consideration between last year and even Q4 rated into Q1. I think there's a little bit of probably impact from just mix as well, but nothing really material there, but those are really the two factors.

因此，這確實是去年與今年之間、甚至從第四季延續到第一季的一部分考量。另外可能也有一些組合（mix）影響，但並不算重大；主要就是這兩個因素。

Constantine Davides, Citizens.

Constantine Davides，Citizens。

Dirk, you highlighted your balance sheet strength and ongoing debt reduction both in the quarter and post the quarter and I guess can you just comment a little bit on the size of the opportunities in the M&A pipeline, whether that's starting to skew up a little bit more in recent months?

Dirk，你強調了資產負債表的強勁，以及本季與季後持續的降債。我想請你談談併購（M&A）管線中的機會規模，近期幾個月是否開始有些往更大案子傾斜？

Yes. What we're starting to see this year, and there's already two or three opportunities out there that are upside that we're looking at. I think it's really something that changed probably in the last three months or so where we're seeing processes begin on these larger opportunities. And that's one of the reasons, I think, constantine, that we've worked very hard to keep our balance sheet clean.

是的。我們今年開始看到一些情況，而且目前已經有兩到三個我們正在看的上行機會。我認為真正的變化大概發生在過去三個月左右：我們看到這些較大型機會的流程開始啟動。而這也是其中一個原因，我想，Constantine，我們一直非常努力維持資產負債表的乾淨。

It's the reason we were able to do Gentiva very quickly and bring it on board. So we're looking at some of these bigger opportunities that because of our balance sheet, we could do and bring on fairly rapidly without having to stress our balance sheet. So again, they are out there. They're in a process, and we're more looking at them.

這也是我們能非常快速完成 Gentiva 交易並將其納入體系的原因。因此我們正在評估一些更大的機會，憑藉我們的資產負債表，我們可以做、也能相對快速地整合進來，而不需要讓資產負債表承受壓力。所以再說一次，這些機會確實存在。它們正在流程中，而我們也更積極地在看。

And when you say of size something along the size of -- or scale of Gentiva.

你所說的規模，是指大概像 Gentiva 那樣的規模嗎？

Yes, they're similar in size to Gentiva. That's correct.

是的，規模與 Gentiva 類似。沒錯。

Great. And then a quick follow-up on Indiana. You talked about that being, that state being attractive and good rate momentum, I guess, in recent periods. Where do rates kind of compare to either other states you're in or your blended average?

很好。另外快速追問印第安納州（Indiana）。你提到該州具吸引力且近期費率動能良好；那裡的費率與你們所在的其他州或你們的加權平均相比，大概處於什麼位置？

The rates are a little higher than some of the Midwestern states. I mean, obviously, Illinois is going to be our highest market. But Indiana, if you look around the other states around there, the rates now are very -- there are nice rates. There are rates that we can operate in very effectively. Also, there seems to be a little less competition in Indiana in the number of providers of our care.

費率比一些中西部州略高。當然，伊利諾伊州（Illinois）會是我們最高的市場。但印第安納州，如果你看看周邊其他州，現在的費率非常——是很不錯的費率。這些費率讓我們能非常有效率地營運。此外，印第安納州在我們這類照護服務的供應商數量上，競爭似乎也稍微少一些。

So it's a state that we've been looking at. And with -- I think it was in like 2023 time frame is when they really raise their rates to make them more competitive. Ever since then, we've been looking for opportunities to get into a state. And that's what HomeCourt home care brought to us and the other acquisition that we announced allow us to get into that state and start looking for other opportunities to grow.

所以這是一個我們一直在關注的州。而且——我想大概是在 2023 年左右——他們確實提高了費率，使其更具競爭力。自那之後，我們一直在尋找進入該州的機會。而 HomeCourt 居家照護（home care）為我們帶來了這個切入點；另外我們宣布的另一項收購也讓我們能進入該州，並開始尋找其他成長機會。

Ryan Langston, TD Cowen.

Ryan Langston，TD Cowen。

Maybe just dovetailing off Indiana. Obviously, strategy to enter states the size and scale. Do you know if you combine the two assets where that would put you in terms of market share in the state. And I just caught your comments on decent rates and competition dynamics. But anything else in particular that made Indiana attractive?

延續印第安納州的話題。顯然你們的策略是進入具規模與量體的州。你是否知道把這兩項資產合併後，你們在該州的市占率大概會落在什麼位置？我也聽到你提到不錯的費率與競爭態勢。但還有沒有其他特別讓印第安納州具吸引力的因素？

Yes. I can start and Dirk could add some color on. I don't know that we have a detail of exactly where we stand. I think it's going to be a good footprint for us from just a coverage standpoint. All in, the other acquisition is going to be similar size. So we're going to be just under $20 million in revenue, which is a pretty good start for us in the state.

是的。我可以先回答，Dirk 也可以補充一些說明。我不確定我們是否有非常細的數據，能精確說明我們目前的位置。我認為就覆蓋範圍（coverage）的角度來看，這會是我們一個不錯的據點布局。整體而言，另一項收購的規模也會相近。因此我們在該州的營收將接近 2,000 萬美元以下，對我們來說是相當不錯的起步。

I think one of the things that made it attractive for us in addition to what Dirk had kind of referenced is the managed Medicaid component. Obviously, a lot of the larger players there, I think United and those folks, we have good relationships with all of those guys, as everyone knows kind of nationally. So I think it is a good fit for us as well.

我認為除了 Dirk 剛才提到的之外，另一個讓我們覺得有吸引力的點是管理式醫療補助（managed Medicaid）的組成。顯然，那裡有不少大型業者，我想像 United 等等；如大家所知，我們在全國層面與這些夥伴都有良好關係。所以我認為這對我們而言也很契合。

That's always been something that's been part of the profile that we like is again the states to have managed Medicaid where we can have those relationships in place. So I'm excited about that.

這一直都是我們喜歡的公司輪廓之一，也就是各州有管理式醫療補助（Managed Medicaid），讓我們能夠建立起那些合作關係。所以我對此感到很興奮。

Okay. And then I appreciate the commentary and response to Matt's question, but maybe just more broadly, obviously, this administration is really focused on fraud, waste and abuse and have made some statements to that quite a bit over the past several months to a year plus. Like I guess, just in general, what do you think any of that could mean for Addus?

好的。另外，我很感謝你們對 Matt 問題的評論與回應，但或許更廣泛地說，顯然本屆政府非常聚焦在詐欺、浪費與濫用（FWA），並在過去幾個月到一年多的時間裡多次就此發表聲明。我想一般來說，你認為這對 Addus 可能意味著什麼？

Is that potential benefit because you're so large and sophisticated maybe versus some of your smaller competitors in your markets? Just maybe more broadly, what do you think this administration sort of stands on FWA, how that could affect Addus?

這是否可能帶來好處，因為你們規模大、也更成熟，或許相較於你們市場中的一些較小競爭對手？更廣泛地說，你認為本屆政府在 FWA 上的立場是什麼，以及這可能如何影響 Addus？

Yes. One of the things that Addus did, we participated with the alliance in talking to the current administration about the fact that fraud and abuse is out there, and it causes companies that are legitimate providers. It causes issues with various things you can talk about. And so from the standpoint of Addus, we're glad to see the administration focus on fraud and abuse.

是的。Addus 做過的一件事是，我們與聯盟一起參與，向現任政府溝通詐欺與濫用確實存在，而這會對合法的服務提供者公司造成影響。這會在各種層面引發問題，你可以談很多方面。因此，從 Addus 的角度來看，我們很高興看到政府把焦點放在詐欺與濫用上。

We spend a lot of money on compliance. We have for the last 10 years, we want to make sure that when we operate in a state that we're following the rules and we're doing what's proper. And at times that you find that maybe something was built in properly, we pay it back very quickly to stay in compliance with the state. So the fact that we are large, we spend millions of dollars into the compliance aspect, we think bodes very well for what the administration is trying to do, and that is take out the players, mostly smaller players.

我們在合規上投入了大量資金。過去 10 年我們一直如此，我們希望確保在某個州營運時，我們遵守規則並做正確的事。而有時若發現可能有某些項目計費不正確，我們會非常迅速地退還款項，以維持對州政府的合規。因此，我們規模大、在合規面投入數百萬美元，我們認為這非常符合政府想做的事，也就是把那些業者——多半是較小的業者——剔除出市場。

But take out the players that aren't doing the right thing. They're just billing and not following through with what they need to do to make sure the rules are being followed. And more importantly, the most important thing is that the care is being given to the patient. There's a reason that patient has a plan of care that the state approved, and that is they need that care.

但更重要的是，把那些沒有做對事情的業者剔除。他們只是開帳單，卻沒有落實他們需要做的事來確保遵守規則。而更重要、最重要的一點是，照護確實有提供給病人。病人之所以會有一份由州政府核准的照護計畫（plan of care），是有原因的，那就是他們需要那樣的照護。

And so for us, calling out personal care, we'd rather than just call out home care and talk about the fact that there's a lot of fraud abuse in home health. There seems to be an in hospice. From a personal care standpoint, we believe that we're a leader in the industry, and part of that being a leader is to lead the compliance effort. And so we're pleased with the fact that they're focused on that. And we believe long term, it will be a benefit to our company.

因此對我們而言，談到個人照護（personal care），我們寧可把它稱為個人照護，而不只是籠統地稱為居家照護（home care），並談到居家健康（home health）領域存在很多詐欺濫用。看起來在安寧療護（hospice）也有。就個人照護而言，我們相信自己是產業領導者，而成為領導者的一部分就是帶頭推動合規工作。所以我們很樂見他們把焦點放在這上面。我們相信長期而言，這將對我們公司有利。

Jared Haase, William Blair.

Jared Haase，William Blair。

Maybe just one for the model. I appreciate all the detail you guys have given as far as hiring and some of the initiatives you have going on like the caregiver application. That hours per census per month metric has been about 70% for a couple of quarters now. I guess, is there anything structurally that would cause that decline?

我想就模型問一個問題。我很感謝你們在招募以及一些正在推動的措施（例如照護員應用程式）方面提供的所有細節。每月每名在冊人數（census）對應的工時（hours per census per month）這個指標，已經連續幾季大約在 70% 左右。我想問，有沒有任何結構性因素會導致這個比率下滑？

I think the typical seasonality would have that sort of continue to grow sequentially over the rest of the year. But I just want to make sure that's sort of the right expectation to level set how we're thinking about things for the model, just given the moving parts as it relates to sort of census and volume trends.

我認為典型的季節性因素會讓它在今年剩餘時間裡按季逐步成長。但我只是想確認，這是否是正確的預期，好讓我們在模型上校準對這件事的看法，因為與在冊人數與量能趨勢相關的變動因素很多。

Yes, Jared, I wouldn't expect to see that. There's nothing structurally that's going to cause that to decline. I think you're always going to have a little bit of ebb and flow in mix in the states. But with the efforts that we're using in the caregiver app and that rollout and thinking about our full rate, we would actually probably expect that longer term to actually continue to grow because we think there are hours that are available for clients under their care plan that we are currently not serving.

是的，Jared，我不預期會看到那樣的情況。沒有任何結構性因素會導致它下滑。我認為各州的組合（mix）總是會有一些小幅的起伏。但以我們在照護員 App 的投入、推廣，以及我們對滿載率（full rate）的思考來看，長期而言我們反而可能預期它會持續成長，因為我們認為在客戶的照護計畫下，其實還有一些可提供的工時是我們目前尚未服務到的。

So no, I wouldn't expect from modeling, I would not expect to see that decline for any structural reason.

所以不會，就建模而言，我不會預期它因任何結構性原因而下滑。

Okay. Got it. That's helpful. And then maybe just another one on Indiana as a market for you guys. I'm just curious do you get any sort of regional leverage in a market like Indiana, just given obviously the proximity to your largest market, Illinois. I don't know if there's any sort of infrastructure that you're able to leverage that would help you scale up and extract synergies a little bit more quickly than normal.

好的。了解。這很有幫助。另外再問一個關於印第安納州作為你們市場的問題。我只是好奇，在像印第安納這樣的市場，你們是否能獲得某種區域性的槓桿效益，畢竟它顯然靠近你們最大的市場伊利諾州。我不確定你們是否有任何基礎設施可以加以利用，讓你們比一般情況更快擴張並更快提取協同效益。

Yes. If you look at it from where we have markets around Indiana, obviously, we're very large in Illinois. We're in Michigan, we're Ohio. So Indiana is kind of right in the middle of that geographically. So if you think about from just a regional or leadership perspective, there's not going to be a need for us to add any additional layers there.

是的。如果從我們在印第安納周邊的市場來看，顯然我們在伊利諾州規模很大。我們也在密西根州、在俄亥俄州。所以印第安納在地理位置上剛好位於中間。因此如果你從區域或領導層的角度來看，我們不需要在那裡再增加任何額外的管理層級。

They should be able to just talk under kind of what exists for us on the infrastructure today. Obviously, you'll have people in those branch locations. But really that should be the limit of it. So from a leverage perspective on G&A, that definitely should slide right into the operations that we have that kind of surround the state.

他們應該可以在我們目前既有的基礎設施架構下運作。當然，你會在那些分支據點配置人員。但基本上也就到此為止。因此，從一般與行政（G&A）的槓桿角度來看，這確實應該能直接併入我們在該州周邊既有的營運體系。

Clarke Murphy, Truist.

Clarke Murphy，Truist。

I had a follow-up on labor. I appreciate all the commentary that you guys gave around the caregiver app and hiring trends. But I wanted to see if you guys are seeing perhaps any benefit on labor availability, even some of the macro concerns that seem to have amplified over the last couple of months and the impact that, that's had on kind of a broader consumer environment.

我有一個關於勞動力的追問。我很感謝你們就照護員 App 與招募趨勢所提供的所有評論。但我想了解的是，你們是否在勞動力供給可得性上看到任何好轉？另外，過去幾個月似乎加劇的一些總體層面的擔憂，以及它對更廣泛消費環境造成的影響，是否也帶來了某些效益？

I'll take that. The short answer is that we're seeing positive hiring trends and we are seeing some of the leading indicators in terms of wage inflation and availability of candidate all trend in the right direction. And frankly, with wage inflation, we're back to sort of that normal roughly 3% base, a little -- some are a little higher, some are a little lower.

我來回答。簡短的答案是：我們看到正向的招募趨勢，也看到一些領先指標——包括薪資通膨與候選人可得性——都朝正確方向發展。坦白說，就薪資通膨而言，我們已回到大致正常、約 3% 的基礎水準；有些略高、有些略低。

But in terms of candidates, we're seeing really good candidate flow across our markets. As Dirk mentioned, we're always going to have small pockets where it's a little bit more difficult to staff, but that is really limited to mostly rural locations and frankly, just a couple of skilled categories in those rural locations, but we continue to work through those so that we can make sure we're hiring the right staff to drive growth and to serve our patients and clients.

至於候選人方面，我們在各市場都看到非常好的候選人流量。如 Dirk 提到的，我們總會有一些小區域在人力配置上比較困難，但那主要限於偏鄉地點，而且坦白說，也只是在那些偏鄉地點的少數幾個技術類別（skilled categories）。不過我們會持續處理這些問題，以確保我們招募到合適的人員，來推動成長並服務我們的病患與客戶。

So really seeing some good trajectory there. Now whether it's attributable to the macro environmental issues, that's really hard to say, of course, but I can tell you that we are seeing positive trends.

所以整體來看，我們確實看到不錯的改善軌跡。至於是否可歸因於總體環境的問題，當然很難說，但我可以告訴你，我們確實看到正向趨勢。

Got it. And then just switching gears to capital deployment. The other question I had was just if I think about your current pace of debt paydown relative to your debt balance suggests absent M&A be kind of largely paid off by the end of the year. Just wanted to see absent any large-scale M&A, how that would potentially impact your capital deployment priorities going forward?

了解。接著把話題轉到資本部署。我另外一個問題是，如果我看你們目前償還債務的速度相對於債務餘額，似乎在沒有併購（M&A）的情況下，到年底債務大致就能還清。想請教在沒有任何大型併購的前提下，這可能會如何影響你們未來的資本部署優先順序？

We spent a lot of time talking about this at our Board meeting, as you would expect with the company in our position. I think the thing we see that maybe is not as apparent to outsiders is the number of deals that are now starting to come on board. We're starting to see some larger transactions as we mentioned. And remember, with those large transactions, there still are a number of smaller transactions that we just announced that are out there that we consider in most cases, backfilled.

我們在董事會會議上花了很多時間討論這件事，這也符合你對處於我們這種位置的公司的預期。我認為我們看到、但外界可能不那麼容易察覺的一點，是現在開始有不少交易案陸續進來。如同我們提到的，我們開始看到一些較大型的交易。而且請記得，伴隨這些大型交易，我們剛宣布的那些較小型交易也仍在進行中；在多數情況下，我們認為這些會被補上（backfilled）。

And in this case, it was entering into a new market. So we believe that before our debt is paid off, we will put to work, a great deal of our capital in these opportunities that are out there. So it led us to decide that that's really what we understand we're going to use our capital for today. Now if that didn't happen over the next year, you would see us maybe come up with a different decision on how we use our capital.

而在這個案例中，是進入一個新市場。因此我們相信，在債務還清之前，我們就會把相當大一部分資本投入到這些現有的機會上。所以這也促使我們決定，這確實就是我們目前理解將用資本去做的事情。當然，如果接下來一年這些事情沒有發生，你可能會看到我們在如何使用資本上做出不同的決策。

But we believe right now that with the opportunities that are there for us, and we'll be able to use our debt and our cash and debt to grow the company.

但我們目前相信，憑藉眼前的這些機會，我們將能運用我們的債務與現金，以及債務，來推動公司成長。

Ben Hendrix, RBC Capital.

Ben Hendrix，RBC Capital。

This is Michael Murray on for Ben. You saw some pretty good leverage on adjusted SG&A even with the weather headwinds. Are there specific cost initiatives driving this improvement? Do you think the caregiver app is helping there? And how should we think about SG&A ratio as we move through the year?

我是代替 Ben 的 Michael Murray。即使有天氣帶來的逆風，你們在調整後的銷售、一般及行政費用（SG&A）方面仍展現出相當不錯的槓桿效益。有哪些特定的成本措施在推動這項改善？你認為照護者 App 在這方面有幫助嗎？另外，我們應該如何看待今年接下來的 SG&A 比率走勢？

Yes. I would say, first, the caregiver app probably isn't going to really have an impact on G&A. I think what we continue to see is kind of ongoing leverage, particularly on our corporate G&A as we grow our revenue base as we would expect. So we're not having to obviously add incremental cost there. I think, On the labor side, as we kind of mentioned earlier, this year in this cycle, we're back to kind of a 3-ish percent kind of default rate there, so kind of back to norm.

是的。我會說，首先，照護者 App 可能不會真的對一般及行政（G&A）產生影響。我們持續看到的是隨著營收基礎成長，尤其在公司層級的 G&A 上出現持續的槓桿效益，這也符合我們的預期。因此我們顯然不需要在那裡增加額外成本。至於人力方面，如同我們先前提到的，今年在這個週期，我們回到大約 3% 左右的預設比率，因此算是回到常態。

I think kind of going forward, we do give our merits on March 1. So we think sequentially into Q2, there's going to be a little bit of additional dollars in G&A in Q2 as those kind of flow through for the full quarter. But nothing else really from a seasonal perspective. So I think we would expect it to maintain a pretty stable percentage of revenue and continue to see additional leverage as we grow.

我想往後看，我們在 3 月 1 日進行績效調薪（merits）。所以我們認為按季來看進入第二季（Q2），由於這些調薪會在整個季度反映，Q2 的 G&A 會多出一些金額。但從季節性角度來看，沒有其他特別因素。因此我們預期它會維持在營收的相當穩定比例，並且隨著我們成長持續看到更多槓桿效益。

Okay. And then just shifting gears to home health. Organic revenue declined 6.6%. I think you previously indicated a return to growth in the second half of this year against some easier comps. So just wanted to get an update on admission trends, the impact of your new leadership and your confidence in achieving that time line.

好的。接著把話題轉到居家健康（home health）。有機營收下滑 6.6%。我記得你們先前提到，因為比較基期較容易，下半年會回到成長。想請你更新一下收案（admission）趨勢、新任領導團隊的影響，以及你們對達成該時間表的信心。

Sure. Michael, I'll take that one and talk about home health. I'll Just start by reminding everybody, it's less than 5% of our business. But that said, we've made changes from a leadership perspective and then also from a sales perspective and how we go to market for that business recently. In Q1, we saw our margins really where we want them to be. And so our focus is now on volume.

當然。Michael，這題我來回答，談談居家健康。我先提醒大家，這部分不到我們業務的 5%。不過即便如此，我們最近在領導層面，以及銷售層面與該業務的市場推進方式上都做了調整。在第一季（Q1），我們看到利潤率確實達到我們希望的水準。因此我們現在的重點轉向量的提升。

We did see some positive trends in Q1. In fact, in Q1 2026 new admissions, total volume and total visits, all improved sequentially versus Q4 2025. So that is the trend that we would like to see. That's part of what we're focused on seeing and we continue to think that we'll see that certainly later this year and feel good about that statement.

我們在第一季確實看到一些正向趨勢。事實上，在 2026 年第一季，新收案、總量以及總訪視次數，相較於 2025 年第四季都呈現連續改善。這就是我們希望看到的趨勢。這也是我們專注要看到的部分；我們仍然認為今年稍晚肯定會看到這樣的表現，並且對這項說法感到樂觀。

Just to just step back a little bit at a higher level picking up on something that Dirk said earlier, the real value in our home health business is the interconnecting care that we provide and the correlation that we see in markets where we have multiple lines of service there and different levels of care between those lines of service.

再稍微拉高一個層次，呼應 Dirk 先前提到的一點，我們居家健康業務的真正價值在於我們提供的互聯式照護（interconnecting care），以及我們在同一市場中擁有多條服務線時所看到的關聯性，並能在這些服務線之間提供不同層級的照護。

So for example, I think it bears repeating in New Mexico and also Tennessee, where we have what we call the bridge program in place, and we really focus on creating referrals and admissions from home health into hospice for patients where that's appropriate, we've seen those rates exceed 25%. And we've also now begun that program in Illinois. Obviously, Illinois Home Health is a little bit earlier for us, but there is great opportunity there and opportunity to continue that pattern.

例如，我認為值得再強調一次：在新墨西哥州以及田納西州，我們已導入所謂的橋接計畫（bridge program），並且非常專注於為適合的病患，建立從居家健康轉介並收案至安寧療護（hospice）的流程；我們看到這些比率超過 25%。而我們現在也已在伊利諾州啟動該計畫。當然，伊利諾州的居家健康對我們而言還比較早期，但那裡有很大的機會，也有機會延續這種模式。

AJ Rice, UBS.

AJ Rice，UBS。

First, I think at one point, you were -- had said that you thought in the second-quarter, you'd still see above average growth in personal care and hospice and then it would moderate in the second half. Just wanted to give you a chance if there's any update. Are you thinking about seasonality, what that might be or if there's any comments on thinking about the seasonal layout of the business for the rest of the year.

首先，我記得你們曾在某個時點表示，你們認為第二季個人照護（personal care）與安寧療護（hospice）仍會維持高於平均的成長，然後在下半年會趨於溫和。想給你們機會更新一下是否有任何變化。你們是否在考量季節性、可能的影響，或對今年剩餘時間的業務季節性分布有任何看法？

Yes, AJ, this is Brian. I think maybe not so much seasonal, but I think you started thinking about comps over prior year and some of the rate impact, particularly in Personal Care. I think our prior comments that we expect it to be probably toward the high of our kind of normal 3% to 5% range, if not above. So starting this year, obviously, at 6.5% same-store basis.

是的，AJ，我是 Brian。我想可能不完全是季節性，而是你開始考量與去年同期的比較基期，以及費率影響，特別是在個人照護（Personal Care）方面。我們先前的評論是，我們預期它大概會落在我們正常 3% 到 5% 區間的高端，甚至可能更高。因此今年一開始，同店基礎（same-store basis）就達到 6.5%。

We would still expect that to be the case for the remainder of this year. I think once we kind of get confirmation on New Mexico and that flowing through as well, that will obviously benefit the back half of the year. So I think we still feel pretty comfortable with that commentary thinking about kind of where we'll be on a same-store basis for each quarter going forward in PCS.

我們仍預期今年剩餘時間會是這樣的情況。我認為一旦我們對新墨西哥州的情況獲得確認，並且讓其影響反映出來，也將明顯有利於下半年。因此，當我們思考 PCS 在未來各季度的同店表現時，我們對先前的說法仍感到相當有信心。

Home health -- I mean, sorry, hospice has been double-digit plus in same-store. I think we had guided people to think that's probably not long-term sustainable. Our ultimate expectation is probably upper single digits, so we're just under 8% this quarter. I think we've seen some nice trajectory in ADC coming out of the quarter. We were a little bit softer coming off of the holiday. So I think that sets us up pretty well. I think going forward to be in really good shape to continue to meet that as well for the remainder of this year.

居家健康——我是說，抱歉，安寧療護（hospice）在同店一直是雙位數以上的成長。我想我們曾引導大家認為，這可能不具長期可持續性。我們最終的預期大概是高個位數；本季我們略低於 8%。我認為我們看到本季結束後的日均在院人數（ADC）有不錯的走勢。假期過後我們稍微偏弱一些。因此我認為這讓我們處於相當有利的位置。我想往後看，我們的狀態會很好，也能在今年剩餘時間持續達成這個目標。

Okay. And then I guess your comments about M&A and the pipeline and so forth. Obviously, these deals are more in the personal care arena. You sound like you're feeling a little better about the home health backdrop. Would that be something you would now sort of lean into again on M&A? Or is it still too early to do that?

好的。然後我想談談您對併購（M&A）以及案源管線等方面的評論。顯然，這些交易更多是在個人照護領域。聽起來您對居家健康（home health）的整體環境感覺稍微好一些了。這是否意味著您現在會在併購上再次更偏向投入居家健康？還是說現在這樣做仍然太早？

I think we would look at home health deals today as opposed to maybe a year ago. As you can understand, we'd be very careful in what we did, make sure it's strategically met. For us, the overlap with our hospice and personal care so that our bridge program can work. But yes, we would start looking at home health care opportunities today.

我認為，相較於可能一年前，我們今天會去看居家健康的交易。如您所理解的，我們會非常謹慎地評估我們要做什麼，並確保在策略上是符合的。對我們而言，會考量與我們的安寧療護（hospice）與個人照護的重疊性，讓我們的橋接計畫（bridge program）能夠運作。但是的，我們今天會開始尋找居家健康照護的機會。

Joanna Gajuk, Bank of America.

Joanna Gajuk，美國銀行（Bank of America）。

Full of questions here. So on personal care same-store hours per business day, I think grew, call it, 2%, 2.2% -- so what was it excluding weather? I know you gave a revenue, I guess, impact from that? And what was it as you exited the quarter? So essentially what I'm trying to get at is kind of what was your growth in March? And do you expect sort of the acceleration and a little bit higher over the rest of the year on that metric?

我這裡有一堆問題。關於個人照護的同店每個營業日工時（same-store hours per business day），我認為成長了，大概，2%、2.2%——那麼若排除天氣因素是多少？我知道你們提供了營收方面的影響，我想是這個帶來的？那在季度結束時的水準是多少？所以我本質上想了解的是，你們3月的成長大概是多少？而且你們是否預期在今年剩餘時間，這個指標會有某種加速、並且略高一些？

Yes. I think, Joanna, I think our target has always been and we've been talking about it for some time now. We can keep that same-store hours per business day between 2% and 2.5%, we're probably going to be in a pretty good spot. We've been 2.4% each of Q3 and Q4, 2.2% but we were a little bit softer as we kind of mentioned in Heather, with some of the weather we saw in January.

是的。我想，Joanna，我們的目標一直都是，而且我們談了一段時間了。如果我們能把同店每個營業日工時維持在2%到2.5%之間，我們大概就會處在相當不錯的位置。我們在第3季和第4季都是2.4%，這季是2.2%，但如同我們在Heather那裡提到的，1月因為天氣因素我們稍微偏弱一些。

So we're probably not going to go into kind of a month-by-month metric on that. I think we feel pretty comfortable coming out of the quarter with where we were from just a census perspective in hours in March and going into that Q2, 2% to 2.5% range still feels very, very solid for us going forward.

所以我們大概不會按月去提供這個指標。我認為，從3月的工時量（census）角度來看，以及進入第2季時，我們對於季度結束後的狀況感到相當有信心；未來維持在2%到2.5%的區間，對我們而言仍然非常、非常穩健。

It's great 2%, 2.5%. And then the gross margins, so Q1 is seasonally low, right? But can you help us kind of call out anything as we think about Q2 from Q1?

很好，2%、2.5%。然後關於毛利率，第1季是季節性偏低，對吧？但你能否協助我們指出，當我們從第1季推估第2季時，有哪些需要特別注意的地方？

Yes. I think Q1 yes, seasonally is usually always our low watermark of the year with the reset of payroll taxes and our merits. I think traditionally, what we see is usually you see a little bit of improvement with some of the payroll tax caps getting Q1 into Q2. So usually, there's a little bit of benefit into Q2. Q2, Q3, usually pretty flat. I think Q4 usually is the best quarter for us from a margin perspective, just with some additional benefit from payroll tax caps but also our hospice rate increase kicks in, in that quarter as well.

是的。我想第1季，沒錯，季節性上通常一直都是我們全年最低點，因為薪資稅重置以及我們的調薪（merits）。我想傳統上我們看到的是，從第1季到第2季，隨著部分薪資稅上限（payroll tax caps）的影響，通常會看到一些改善。所以通常進入第2季會有一點點好處。第2季、第3季通常相當平坦。我想第4季通常是我們從毛利率角度來看最好的季度，因為除了薪資稅上限帶來的額外好處之外，我們的安寧療護費率上調也會在該季度生效。

I think if you look at the mix of our business, personal care was a little over 77% this quarter. As a comparison, you think about that versus hospice and home health, hospice and home health have a higher gross margin. So if that mix gets back more to 75-25 on skilled and non-skilled that would benefit as well, but mix is going to potentially play in as well.

我想如果你看我們的業務組合，這一季個人照護占比略高於77%。作為比較，若你把它和安寧療護與居家健康相比，安寧療護與居家健康的毛利率更高。因此，如果這個組合回到更接近75-25的「技術性（skilled）」與「非技術性（non-skilled）」比例，也會帶來助益，但組合可能也會成為影響因素。

So I think we feel really good coming out of the quarter on the track for hospice ADC. So if that were to be a bigger part of our mix going forward, that would benefit our gross margin percentage as well.

所以我想，我們對於本季結束後安寧療護日均在院人數（ADC）的走勢感覺非常好。因此，如果未來它在我們的組合中占比更高，也會有助於提升我們的毛利率百分比。

And the last one on the quarter. The stock comp was higher sequentially from Q4. Is there -- was there something kind of one-time in nature? Is the $5 million essentially a good run rate? Or is this something outside of (technical difficulty)?

以及本季最後一個問題。股票薪酬（stock comp）較第4季環比提高。是否有——是否有某些一次性因素？這5百萬美元基本上是一個合理的常態水準（run rate）嗎？還是這是某些超出(technical difficulty)？

Yes. That's not a run rate. I mentioned in my comments. So with our former President and COO, retiring, there was some accelerated vesting as part of this retirement that impacted the quarter, but should be onetime and would not be continuing going forward.

是的。那不是常態水準。我在我的評論中有提到。由於我們前任總裁兼營運長（COO）退休，作為退休安排的一部分，有一些加速歸屬（accelerated vesting），因此影響了本季，但應該是一次性的，未來不會持續。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Dirk Allison for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想把電話會議交回給Dirk Allison，請他做任何結語。

Thank you, operator. I want to thank each of you for taking the time to join us today on our call, and we hope that you have a great week. Thank you.

謝謝，接線員。我要感謝各位今天撥冗參加我們的電話會議，也希望各位本週過得愉快。謝謝。

The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

本次電話會議現在結束。感謝您參加今天的簡報。您現在可以掛線。