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Tom Murphy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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Longtime executives unleash big donations:

Two Indianapolis business legends cemented their reputations for generosity in 2006 with charitable donations of $50 million and $15 million, respectively. The Indiana University School of Medicine announced in November that retail developer Melvin Simon and his wife, Bren, had committed $50 million to the school’s cancer center to recruit and retain researchers and to help with an expansion. Apartment developer Gene Glick and his wife, Marilyn, earlier in the fall announced a $15 million contribution to the Indianapolis Cultural…

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Winona Hospital litigation fizzles

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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For Cornelius ’06 was full of challenges:

Long-time Indianapolis business leader Jim Cornelius jumped from one daunting challenge to another in 2006. He started the year as chairman and CEO of Guidant Corp., as it weighed a possible sale to either New Jer sey-based Johnson & Johnson or Massachusetts-based Boston Scientific Corp. After Boston Scientific won, Cornelius became acting CEO of New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in September. Cornelius stayed with Guidant from start to finish. He left his position as chief financial officer at Eli Lilly…

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Boston Scientific swallows Guidant:

Massachusetts-based Boston Scientific Corp. finally sealed its purchase of Indianapolis medical device maker Guidant Corp. in April. But it was still paying a price for the $27-billion deal as 2006 wound to a close. Boston Scientific shares have tumbled since the deal closed, partly because of concern that its signature product, drugcoated stents that prop open obstructed heart vessels, can sometimes cause fatal blood clots. But many of the company’s difficulties relate to product-liability problems at Guidant, one of the…

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Courting continues between Clarian, Morgan: Both sides look to build on months-old agreement

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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Standard Management continues perilous skid: Company reports more losses; stock value sinks

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

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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Clarian to put prices on its Web site

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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From blankets to burials, trustee work never ends:

You can turn to a township trustee for help if a fire leaves you homeless or a hospital stay leaves you penniless. You also look to the office if a dog devours your livestock or you need a fence dispute resolved. Indiana’s 1,008 trustees make up the state’s largest single group of elected officials, and their lengthy list of duties ranges from the conventional to the odd. Some are charged with destroying “noxious weeds” and “rank vegetation,” according to the…

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Company offers recipe for waste disposal: Sanitec plans to microwave local medical refuse

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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