- Home
- NEWS
- REGIONAL
- THIS WEEK'S PAPER
- BLOGS
- Multimedia
- OPINION
- A&E
- LISTS
- PEOPLE
- EVENTS
- Classifieds
- Subscribe
Health Care
Somerset enjoying freedom: Firm grew under First Indiana, but independence brings control, president says
October 31, 2005
Scott OlsonLeaders of Somerset CPAs PC are soaking in the single life, one year after they split from First Indiana Corp. Twenty-one
Somerset partners bought the assets of the accounting firm from the locally based public company on Oct. 25, 2004, ending
a four-year relationship in which bad timing contributed more to the breakup than bad karma. The corporation is the holding
company of First Indiana Bank. At a time when the Sarbanes-Oxley Act mandates auditor independence, Somerset President Patrick
Early,...
MoreOne Call rings up regulatory ire: Carmel telecommmunications firm faces fines, legal action-and increased scrutiny from FCC
October 31, 2005
Chris O\'malleyThe Federal Communications Commission is threatening to revoke the operating authority of Carmel telecommunications firm One
Call Communications for allegedly failing to remit millions of dollars in federal fees. In its second action against the firm
since 2002, the agency also proposes a $1.1 million fine against One Call and parent OCMC Inc. The FCC complaint quietly launched
in August comes after allegations made last spring by state regulators. The state allegations involved so-called "modem hijacking"
of dial-up computer users,...
MoreEmerging Tech, Johnson centers team up: Partnership links incubator's startups with entrepreneurship students
October 24, 2005
Scott OlsonNow as executive director of Indiana University's Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, he has high hopes for
his latest effort to introduce students to the real world of business. The Johnson Center, based in Bloomington, opened an
office earlier this month at the Indiana University Emerging Technologies Center in downtown Indianapolis. The space gives
MBA students the opportunity to provide consulting services to the 22 startups at the incubator. Unlike BSU seniors in the
"spine-sweating" course who present an...
MoreNOTIONS: Blessed by quality, cursed by access
October 24, 2005
Bruce HetrickHetrick last week won the Lawrence H. Einhorn, M.D. Award from the Little Red Door Cancer Agency. A cancer survivor himself,
Hetrick was recognized, in part, for IBJ columns about people with cancer, especially his wife, Pam Klein, who died in March
at 49. He also was honored for advocating anti-smoking legislation. Following are excerpts from his prepared acceptance remarks.
I don't deserve this award. I don't wield a scalpel, administer chemotherapy, invent drugs, change bed pans, hold patients'
hands,...
MoreLee, Willis prosper outside limelight: Former WRTV co-anchors run growing public relations firm
October 17, 2005
Anthony SchoettleNews defined the careers of Clyde Lee and Diane Willis for a combined five decades. And it was the nation's biggest news event
of the last decade-9/11-that served as an ominous backdrop for the duo's first entrepreneurial venture. "We incorporated in
August 2001, and less than a month later, 9/11 hit, and we thought, 'Oh my,'" Lee recalled. But more than four years later,
Lee/Willis Communications is still standing-and prospering. The fiscal swoon that followed 9/11 caused many companies to...
MoreState changes malpractice tact: Insurance department using more outside legal help
October 17, 2005
Tom MurphyThe Indiana Department of Insurance has boosted the outside help it uses to defend its medical malpractice Patients' Compensation
Fund after seeing a record payout this summer. A staff shortage, concern voiced by providers and a ruling that could lead
to huge damage sums all spurred the move, said Amy Strati, who oversees the fund as the Insurance Department's chief counsel.
"The provider community has clearly said to us, 'We want you using experienced [medical malpractice] attorneys on the complex...
MoreVOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Employers should prepare for Medicare D compliance
October 17, 2005
John W.With less than three months until Medicare D takes effect, there is plenty for an employer to do to get ready. If you have
done nothing yet, follow these steps. If you are well on your way to compliance, use these to check your progress. Step 1:
Learn it Medicare D is the new prescription drug benefit available to Medicare-eligible individuals, effective Jan. 1, 2006.
With few exceptions, your retirees and active employees who are Medicare-eligible may enroll in Medicare...
MoreWillingness to adapt keeps benefits firm growing: Key adjusts to ever-changing health insurance market
October 17, 2005
Scott OlsonLarry Dust capitalized on a then-radical health insurance concept 25 years ago that thrust him to the forefront of the corporate
movement to outsource employee benefits services. Much has changed in the world of health care since, but Dust and Key Benefit
Administrators Inc. continue to redefine the way employers approach insurance. "The cheese has moved in this business," Dust
said, "and if you don't believe it, you better get out." The 57-year-old Knox native entered the insurance industry after...
MoreVIEWPOINT: Unleash your employees' service potential
October 17, 2005
Tim MulherinAs anyone in the field of emergency management will tell you, the regrettably sluggish governmental response to the Hurricane
Katrina natural and manmade disaster boils down to the argument over jurisdictions (a perennial challenge in the world of
emergency management) and a gross lack of execution. As a result of the governmental infighting and dearth of critical decision-making
in the early stages of this catastrophe, American citizens were victimized. People suffered, people died. In the analysis
of the Hurricane Katrina...
MoreECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Smaller communities face largest economic obstacles
October 17, 2005
Patrick BarkeyThe population statistics tell the story-we are a nation of cities. Nationwide in 2000, almost 80 percent of us lived in what
the Census Bureau considered urban areas. Yet Indiana has more small cities, and more people who live in rural areas, than
do many other states. In 2000, nearly 30 percent of us lived outside urban areas, compared with the national average of 21
percent. And of our 92 counties, 38 have fewer than 30,000 people, with 19 of...
MoreIn a race for robotics: Crash doesn't quell Jones' hope of building new industry
October 17, 2005
Peter SchnitzlerOne day in the not-so-distant future, robot drones will drive the military's supply vehicles through dangerous war zones.
They'll pilot tractors across farm fields and steer plows as they scrape snowy highways. Automatic cars will even whisk you
to and from work. High-tech entrepreneur Scott Jones, 44, believes with a zealot's fervor this all will happen. More than
a gee-whiz observer, the man who helped invent voice mail hopes to establish a robotic vehicle business-and ultimately the
robotic vehicle industry-in...
MorePremiums continue to climb: Rate increases may dip, but not by very much
October 17, 2005
Tracy DonhardtreporterAfter four years of double-digit rate hikes, average health care insurance premiums rose less than 10 percent in 2005. And
they're expected to rise less than 10 percent again in 2006, according to several national surveys. But excuse employers if
they don't get excited about the trend. They are still faced with having to pay much higher prices or trimming benefits-or
both. Health care insurance premiums this year increased 9.2 percent, a 2-percent drop in the average increase from the...
MoreHancock explores 'mean, lean operating room machine': Hospital officials believe time is right for surgery center
October 10, 2005
Tom MurphyHancock Regional Hospital has dusted off plans to build an outpatient surgery center with some of its doctors, and it may
turn for help to a business run by the competition. The Greenfield hospital has talked with Visionary Enterprises Inc., a
for-profit subsidiary of Community Health Network; and another Indianapolis company, Russell Associates LLC, about forming
a partnership to build the center. Hancock Regional executive Rob Matt called the discussions preliminary but said officials
hope to pick a partner by...
MorePumping out healthy profits: Stand-alone heart hospitals now bustling, earning millions after overcoming slow starts
October 10, 2005
Tom MurphyBusiness heated up so fast for The Heart Center of Indiana last winter that it averaged 103-percent occupancy for an entire
month. That meant the Carmel hospital often had to hold patients in an emergency room or short-stay location until space opened
for them, Heart Center CEO John Stewart said. "We literally, multiple times, had to refuse [patient] transfers," said Stewart,
whose hospital is spending $4 million to add 20 beds that should be ready for patients next month. After...
MoreFree market is best hope for health care:
October 10, 2005
Clearly, the U.S. health care system has its share of problems. Costs are rising rapidly, some 45 million Americans are without
health insurance, and both doctors and patients decry their loss of options and control. But, would a government-run health
care system be any better? Single-payer health care systems have been proposed in a handful of states as the solution to the
problem of access for the uninsured. While single-payer plans can offer all citizens some type of health insurance...
MoreBob Wilson & Associates Inc.: Consultant helps companies predict workers' potential Personality test provides key information
to guide businesses' personnel decisions
October 10, 2005
Jo EllenPersonality test provides key information to guide businesses' personnel decisions It may not be fortunetelling, but the Predictive
Index gives important clues about an individual's success or failure in certain jobs. In Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, the trademarked
personality test is licensed to Bob Wilson & Associates Inc., a Carmel consulting firm that works with more than 200 companies,
helping with hiring, retaining, managing and motivating employees. The firm also works with corporations on strategy and other
management services. Wilson,...
MoreSpeaking of health care: Local experts weigh in on rising costs, the uninsured and whether our current system needs an overhaul
Public health priorities, executive salaries and the "gold rush" of health care construction were among the topics tackled
Sept
October 3, 2005
Public health priorities, executive salaries and the "gold rush" of health care construction were among the topics tackled
Sept. 21 in the latest installment of Indianapolis Business Journal's Power Breakfast Series. IBJ reporter Tom Murphy moderated
the panel discussion, attended by some of the area's foremost health care experts. Following is an edited transcript of the
often-spirited discussion, which included a brief interruption by protestors seeking medical insurance coverage for janitorial
staff who clean Anthem Inc. buildings. IBJ: Can you...
MoreInsurer may be low on targets: WellPoint's latest megadeal could be last for a while
October 3, 2005
Tom MurphyA lack of available targets may steer Well-Point Inc. away from its diet of multibilliondollar acquisitions after it digests
the latest purchase, New York-based Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurer WellChoice Inc. That, in turn, might slow the company's
frenetic growth rate, according to analysts who follow the health insurance industry. Blockbuster deals like the $20.8 billion
merger that created WellPoint last year swelled the health insurer into the biggest player in its industry. In 2004, it reported
a $960 million profit,...
MoreWellPoint company slapped over Medicare: AdminaStar Federal agrees to pay $6 million to resolve old fraud allegations
October 3, 2005
Tom MurphyA WellPoint Inc. subsidiary has agreed to pay $6 million to the federal government to resolve whistleblower accusations of
rampant Medicare fraud over a seven-year span in the 1990s. AdminaStar Federal altered claims information, overcharged the
government, and even hung up on customers to reduce call times and improve evaluations, according to civil lawsuits filed
by several whistleblowers in 1999 and 2000 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The Indianapolis-based
company administers and processes Medicare claims...
MoreCoalition targets disparities in minority health care: Group enlists CEOs to help it develop plan of action
October 3, 2005
Scott OlsonBlack people are nearly twice as likely to have diabetes than white people, less likely to engage in leisure activity and,
on average, die five years earlier. Those statistics from the Centers for Disease Control provide motivation for a local consortium
that wants to improve health care for minorities. Known as the CEO Health Disparities Roundtable, the year-old group has moved
from setting objectives to developing a plan of action. The plan is aimed at reducing health care disparities among...
MoreM-Plan might be ready to deal: State's No. 2 health insurer talks merger with Ohio firm
October 3, 2005
Tom MurphyM-Plan Inc., Indiana's second-largest health insurer, has entered preliminary talks that could lead to a merger with Ohio's
oldest medical insurer. A source familiar with the discussions said they have centered on merging M-Plan's Indianapolisbased
parent, The HealthCare Group LLC, with Cleveland-based Medical Mutual of Ohio. The source, who asked not to be identified,
said Medical Mutual would end up with the majority stake. M-Plan, a nearly 20-year-old insurer owned partly by the city's
Clarian and Community hospital systems, would...
MoreCHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Health care close to implosion?
October 3, 2005
The rash of specialty-hospital construction in the suburbs is a gold rush, driven more by greed than the desire to satisfy
an unmet need. The fact that 45 million people in America are without health insurance is a deplorable national disaster.
The best way to use America's health care system is to not get sick. These aren't the rants of a deranged publisher. These
are comments made by a doctor and a pair of health care executives who were panelists...
MoreFlexible spending extension expected to be little-used: Planners say total elimination of use-it-or-lose it rule would increase
participation, make plans more useful
September 26, 2005
Tracy DonhardtreporterA new Internal Revenue Service rule relaxes the "use it or lose it" rule in flexible spending accounts by extending the period
during which expenses may be incurred beyond the end of the plan year. Health care flexible spending accounts allow participants
to set aside at the beginning of the year a predetermined amount of pretax money to be used for medical, dental and vision
expenses not covered by insurance. Dependent care spending accounts do the same thing for child...
MoreBuilding boom out of hand?: Critics say hospital construction boosting health care costs
September 26, 2005
Tom MurphyThe network has launched a growth spurt that will take it into new markets, boost technology and strengthen Riley Hospital
for Children all over the next few years. This construction also will pile on to the cost of health care, according to several
researchers and health care experts. How that trickles down to the average patient bill, or if it does, remains to be seen.
Consultant Edmund Abel has to think back more than 20 years to recall a capital...
MoreHow Clarian funds building projects:
September 26, 2005
- TomClarian Health Partners CEO Dan Evans offers a simple explanation for how the People Mover, Clarian's futuristic rail system,
came to be a few years ago. "People ask me all the time how we paid for it. I said, 'Thank the stock market,'" he said. The
bull market of the late 1990s allowed Clarian to use mostly investment income to fund the $40 million transportation project
that opened in 2003 and connects its three downtown hospitals: Methodist, IU and Riley...
More
Sponsored by
ADVERTISEMENT
on Facebook & Twitter
on Facebook & Twitter
 Follow IBJ's Tweets on these topics: |
||
| @IBJNews | @Propertylines | @IBJTheScore |
| @IBJArts | @IBJHealthcare | @IBJDining |
| @IBJLists | @IBJSmallbiz | |
ADVERTISEMENT
Back to TopCopyright © All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.
Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing.
Additional Hosting & Delivery by
these guys only skill was to steal from other's hard earned savings.
I voted for him last time and it WAS the LAST time. He needed to to quit running around the world on useless trips, and giving our $$ away to sports teams. I'll vote for anyone but Ballard next time. BTW...we gave $40M to the Pacers and cannot even watch the games on TV.
For the people concerned about traffic, you should know that mixed-use projects (like the one being proposed), actually allows for and encourages more people to walk and bike, thereby mitigating additional automobile traffic. If we continue to design and build suburban-type projects in the City (i.e. automobile-oriented projects), we are not offering anything different from what the suburbs offer, which means we will continue to lose jobs/people to the suburbs. The reason Broad Ripple is somewhat successful today is that people want to live in a place that offers the convenience of being able to walk/bike to restaurants, retail, nightlife, the Monon, etc. Why would you not want to support a project that is complimentary to what already makes the area desirable? The real argument with this project should be its lack-luster design and layout, not the density.
It is unfortunate that there is a perception that celebrities validate an event. The Indy 500 stands on its own, especially for those coming in from out of town. It was always so disturbing to read the gushing descriptions of Ashley Judd threaded throughout the local coverage. Very happy that era is at an end.
Good ole' Obamacare. Thanks liberals and those who didn't bother to vote.