Medco Health (NYSE:MHS), Healthways (Nasdaq:HWAY) Quality Systems (Nasdaq:QSII), Omnicell (Nasdaq:OMCL), Kindred Healthcare (NYSE:KND) FBR's Top Healt

FBR Capital released its healthcare services outlook for 2011 in various segments of the sector, and their favorites are Medco Health (NYSE:MHS), Healthways (Nasdaq:HWAY) Quality Systems (Nasdaq:QSII), Omnicell (Nasdaq:OMCL) and Kindred Healthcare (NYSE:KND).

FBR said, "Healthcare services remains an attractive area for investment in 2011 as strong momentum in the back half of 2010 is likely to be carried forward into the new year. Investors are in a better position in 2011 than they were in 2010 as utilization of services is more stable and healthcare reform is a reality. Assessing the impact of healthcare reform remains a difficult task, but at least there is less uncertainty than a year ago. Our focus tends to be on areas that have considerable benefits that help to drive demand for those services, and that has not changed. We are particularly bullish on the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) sector, as prospects remain bright and the industry is positioned to reap the benefits from the wave of branded drugs going off-patent. Healthcare IT investment appears to be seeing steady improvement, although we are unsure if this will be enough to satisfy the momentum investors, who have made this sector a favorite. We remain cautious on the post–acute care environment, as pricing pressure and regulatory uncertainty continue to weigh on valuations as investors try to determine a reasonable baseline from which these companies can grow. The potential for earnings growth exists, but obstacles still appear to be in the way of that growth.

"Positive on the PBM space...Our best long ideas for 2011 are Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (Outperform) for the large-cap space and Healthways Inc. (Outperform) for the small-cap space.

"Healthcare IT has time to prove its worth...Our best long idea for 2011 is Quality Systems, Inc. (Market Perform), while our best short idea is Omnicell, Inc. (Underperform), which we believe has little to no exposure to the benefits that are boosting the valuations of the healthcare IT space.

"2011 remains a challenge for the post–acute care space...Among our coverage universe, we are most bullish on Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (Market Perform), as the company has shown an ability to navigate difficult regulatory waters and challenging pricing environments in the past."