Defender Direct

Two new health clinics opened on the west side of Indianapolis last week. HealthNet Inc. opened a community health center on West 10th Street, providing primary, pediatric and OB/GYN care, as well as optomemtry, podiatry, behavioral health and social work services. Also, Community Health Network opened a  medical office building in Speedway, which is part of its westward expansion after its acquisition of Westview Hospital on West 38th Street. The offices offer primary care, walk-in care, imaging, infusion therapy and occupational health services. Community also will work with the new Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine to conduct training for medical residents in Speedway.

WellPoint Inc. is still considering former Amerigroup Corp. CEO James Carlson among several finalists to become CEO, Bloomberg News reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The Indianapolis-based health insurer has delayed defining a role for Carlson, who joined WellPoint through its $4.9 billion acquisition of Amerigroup in December, because he is a contender for the top position, said the person, who asked for anonymity because the information is private. Retired Aetna Inc. CEO Ronald Williams also has been a leading candidate, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations. Carlson, 60, would replace Angela Braly, who was forced out in August amid investor complaints about the company's performance. Carlson built Amerigroup into one of the biggest insurers focused on the growing Medicaid sector. In an e-mail, Kristin Binns, a WellPoint spokeswoman, said the company wouldn’t comment on the CEO search. Maureen McDonnell, an Amerigroup spokeswoman, also declined to discuss the process or Carlson’s role. Katherine Mentus, a spokesman for Williams, declined to comment when reached by telephone. Analysts expect WellPoint to make a decision by the end of February.

Eli Lilly and Co. will have to conduct more studies of its experimental Alzheimer’s drug,  but it is getting some outside help. Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston chose Lilly’s drug solanezumab for a large federally funded study testing whether it's possible to prevent Alzheimer's disease in older people at high risk of developing it, according to the Associated Press. Lilly’s own studies of solanezumab found that it did not help people with moderate to severe Alzheimer's, but it showed some promise against milder disease. Researchers think it might work better if given before symptoms start. The new study will enroll 1,000 patients between age 70 and 85 who show a buildup of plaques in their brains but do not yet show signs of Alzheimer’s, including loss of memory and ability to do daily activities. Lilly’s solanezumab is also one of two drugs being studied in Alzheimer’s patients by researchers at Washington University. The other is made by the Genentech unit of Switzerland-based Roche Holding AG.

Indianapolis-based Defender Direct, a home security dealer, has opened an on-site health clinic, joining a number of other area employers that offer such services. Defender Direct’s 650 employees and their families now can receive primary care at the East 96th Street clinic, operated by Indianapolis-based OurHealth. Indianapolis-based MJ Insurance, which has helped such employers as Interactive Intelligence Inc. and others set up onsite clinics, brokered the deal.

Roche Diagnostics Corp. in Indianapolis ranks 89th on Fortune magazine’s latest annual list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For,” the magazine announced Thursday. In selecting Roche, the only Indiana company to appear on the list, Fortune cited its on-site medical clinic and fitness center, the company's $30,000 budget for intramural sports, and its health insurance plans tiered to income levels. The Indianapolis campus serves as the North American headquarters for the diagnostics business of Switzerland-based Roche Holding AG.