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Indiana health provider says no to drug reps: Arnett joins others wary of industry marketing power

February 5, 2007
There truly is no such thing as a free lunch, or at least that's what Arnett Health-System told drug company sales representatives last fall. The Lafayette-based system banned meals for doctors that were paid for by the salespeople, but it allowed them to continue to meet with physicians through appointments. Then that stopped Jan. 1. Now, Arnett also prohibits reps from making sales calls at its roughly 20 locations in Tippecanoe County and the surrounding area. No more free samples...
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Doctor report cards may boost care, pay: New pay-for-performance model prepares for testing

January 22, 2007
The designers of a pay-for-performance plan for doctors are about to put their theories to work. The Quality Health 1st of Indiana program will start testing its unique system for measuring performance in the next three months, and it might lead to bonus payments for doctors by the second half of 2007. Big in-state insurers like M-Plan Inc. and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana back the initiative, and several large doctor groups have signed up, too, said...
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Angie's List explores rating doctors

January 22, 2007
Angie's List is preparing to bring its patented dose of consumer empowerment to your local doctor's office. The Web-based rating service--which started 2007 by expanding into 30 more cities--hopes to launch a pilot program in Indianapolis that rates doctors, insurers and others in the health care business.
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New hospital endures rough start in Bloomington: Leader says Monroe Hospital expected potholes

January 15, 2007
A cash-flow squeeze and a shortage of baby deliveries caused Monroe Hospital to stumble after its October launch. But the leader of Indiana's newest general service hospital envisions a full recovery. The $39 million, doctor-owned hospital in Bloomington recently dropped childbirth services due to lack of deliveries, CEO Dean Melton said. Monroe also struggled with tight finances as it waited more than two months for the first revenue to trickle in. Meanwhile, a founding physician who has the hospital's road...
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Regulator pitches first fee hike in more than a decade: The state Department of Insurance plans to hire 10

January 15, 2007
Indiana's thinly funded Insurance Department is pushing to raise nearly $1 million by hiking fees it charges insurers for the first time since 1994. The department also plans to shrink agent licenses from four years to two, in order to raise money and bolster continuing-education requirements. Insurance Commissioner Jim Atterholt hopes to win legislative approval this session for the measures, which would add $960,000 to the department's $5.8 million operating budget and allow it to boost its work force from...
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Program to offer cyber help for charities: IUPUI initiative creates database of consultants

January 8, 2007
The IUPUI Solution Center soon will expand into cyberspace, launching a free Web site not-for-profits can use to network and find consultants. Its new Nonprofit Solutions Initiative will run the site and provide a database of consultants grouped by 25 areas of expertise. The site also will offer advice on how to work with them. The Solution Center, launched in 2003 with the help of a Lilly Endowment Inc. grant, helps bolster small businesses and not-for-profits. The new initiative, which...
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St. Francis plans another south-side growth spurt: Hospital system looks to build on 30 acres adjacent to Indianapolis campus

January 8, 2007
The youth soccer teams that fill the playing fields near St. Francis Hospital-Indianapolis will take their matches elsewhere next spring to accommodate another expansion by the burgeoning hospital. St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers wants to build on 30 acres of land near the south-side hospital and Interstate 65, according to paperwork filed with Marion County. An acute-care bed tower, medical offices and a cancer center are among the expansion possibilities for the campus, which the Beech Grove-based hospital system...
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'Policy wonk' named president of Sagamore think tank

January 8, 2007
A former U.S. attorney and self-proclaimed "policy wonk" has been charged with growing the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research's Midwestern roots. Krieg DeVault LLP lawyer Deborah Daniels became Sagamore's second president last month.
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Winona Hospital litigation fizzles

January 1, 2007
A court-appointed trustee in charge of Winona Memorial Hospital's bankruptcy says he believes former owners fleeced it for more than $4 million. But he has little to show from his two-year quest to recover money for creditors and now is winding down the case.
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Courting continues between Clarian, Morgan: Both sides look to build on months-old agreement

December 18, 2006
A working relationship Clarian Health Partners started in March with Morgan Hospital & Medical Center might evolve into something much bigger in the new year. Representatives of both systems say they want to strengthen their regional development agreement, and they count an acquisition of the county-owned hospital by Clarian-the largest hospital system in the state-as one of many possibilities they might examine. "I think both sides have considered a number of options from clinical affiliations to consolidation," Clarian spokesman Jon...
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Complaints accuse Lilly of illegally marketing Zyprexa

December 11, 2006
Eli Lilly and Co. is facing another round of litigation over its star seller, Zyprexa, as insurers and third-party payers ask to be reimbursed for covering the antipsychotic drug.
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Standard Management continues perilous skid: Company reports more losses; stock value sinks

December 11, 2006
Standard Management Corp. stock peaked five days into 2006 at $1.55. It's spent the rest of the year in a free fall that observers believe will culminate with the company's filing for bankruptcy. The Carmel-based pharmaceuticals distributor reported a $10 million loss in the third quarter, bringing losses for the first nine months of 2006 to $14 million. The red ink, along with executive turnover and a string of failed acquisitions, has sapped investor confidence. The company's shares, which traded...
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Tax-law change drives donors to other options: Vehicle auctions by not-for-profits are on the decline

December 4, 2006
The 1968 Volvo coupe may have been the ugliest car parked in the Marion County Auto Auction lot, with its worn sheepskin seat covers, duct-taped headlight and mustard-yellow paint scheme. But someone liked it enough to bid $475 to take it off the hands of Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana Inc. Goodwill has depended on thousands of used-and nearly useless-donated vehicles like the Volvo to bring in more than $1 million annually through its auctions. But it and other charities...
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Critics question trustee's property portfolio given mission to help needy

November 20, 2006
Center Township has real estate holdings worth more than $10 million, according to IBJ research. The township's robust real estate portfolio—highly unusual for an Indiana township—fits Trustee Carl L. Drummer's vision for his taxpayer-supported office. But it makes others see red.
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Clarian to put prices on its Web site

November 20, 2006
Clarian Health Partners will start posting prices for care on its Web site early next year, a move aimed at advancing the national movement toward greater transparency in health care costs.
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Company offers recipe for waste disposal: Sanitec plans to microwave local medical refuse

November 13, 2006
A Washington, D.C., company hopes to introduce a method of cooking medical waste with microwaves to the Indianapolis market, which now trucks much of that refuse out of state for safe disposal. Sanitec Industries Inc. has filed plans with the city to install one of its wasteprocessing systems in an empty west-side building. It plans to hire as many as 20 people at the facility to process the redbagged medical waste that flows regularly out of hospitals, and doctor or...
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St. Francis looks to fill hospice care void: Hospital plans 16-bed facility for south campus

September 25, 2006
St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers wants to raise $15 million to add an inpatient hospice to its growing campus on the south side of Indianapolis. The free-standing hospice could house as many as 32 beds for terminally ill patients. Even though most hospice patients receive care in their own homes, hospital officials see the project as a chance to fill a market need and reinforce their system's Franciscan values. "People get caught up, I think, in the definition of...
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Riverview, Irsay take separate paths to exotic getaways: Nancy's Retreat organizers start dueling events

September 25, 2006
One retreat tempts central Indiana women to "capture their dreams"-and grab a makeover while they're at it-during a long weekend in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The other promises "a trip of a lifetime" in nearby Nuevo Vallarta. Last year, a hurricane swept away plans for the second annual Nancy's Retreat getaway, which was created by Nancy Irsay and the Riverview Memorial Foundation. This year, different visions split the retreat in two and created competing trips that benefit separate charities. Neither side...
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Ex-prosecutor's lab biz builds network of government clients

September 18, 2006
Labs are nearing capacity at Strand Analytical Laboratories, which provides forensic and paternity DNA testing. In the second year of Scott Newman's business, the former prosecutor predicts 2007 revenue will reach $4 million.
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Clarian North's slow launch doesn't bother bond analysts

September 18, 2006
Clarian North Medical Center has stumbled out of the gate, with the Carmel hospital reporting losses in its first six months of operation that "well exceed" expectations, a new report says.
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St. Vincent pediatric claims rile Riley

September 11, 2006
Riley Hospital for Children officials are upset over how St. Vincent Children's Hospital is promoting a care expansion it recently launched with a renowned Cincinnati medical center.
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  1. Irvington is up and coming much like Fountain Square. We would love to have something like this in our neighborhood!

  2. Why do we care who has submitted proposals if we can't review the proposals? It's publicly owned land, but the public has zero say in what gets chosen to be built there. Yep, that sounds about right.

  3. Perhaps May 21 is "Evangelical Day" over at the IBJ?

  4. I don't know what's more depressing: that this passes for a defensible elective in a publicly funded SCIENCE class, or that more than half of the posters here are defending this charlatan. Intelligent design is creationism. Creationism is religion. Yes, we have freedom of religion, which deserves to be protected. Now someone kindly show Professor Hedin his freedom by escorting him over to the Religion department at BSU. Carry on.

  5. I hope people realize that the 'vocal' opposition at the meeting represent the minority of people against this project. As with any controversial project - those who don't want it are the loudest, while those who like it or really don't care one way or the other don't come to such meetings. Unfortunately the same may be true of the survey now being offered by the BRVA. I live less than a 5 minute walk from BR Avenue and can tell you that I and most of my neighbors are support this exciting project, or are ambivalent. And how great that it includes quality apartments - something that BR sorely lacks. This is a first class opportunity that we should embrace (and no, I'm not with the BRVA or the developer.) As for the fellow who owns the Good Earth store, if he doesn't want competition then let him pull together his own investors and out bid Whole Foods to operate the proposed grocery component! Come on folks - let's move ahead.

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