Planned Parenthood of Indiana expects to resume offering services to Medicaid patients following a judge's ruling that the state is not allowed to cut off the organization's public funding for general health services solely because it also provides abortions.
Health insurer WellPoint Inc. has enlisted Google Maps for new websites that help patients think twice before they visit an emergency room for care that a less-expensive retail health clinic could handle.
Research is paying off; prevention is working better than before; fear and discrimination have lessened.
Wishard Health Services will change its name to Eskenazi Health after receiving a $40 million gift from Indianapolis real estate developer Sidney Eskenazi and his wife Lois, the county-owned hospital announced Wednesday morning.
Say what? “Excessive hospitality” while promoting its drug Byetta got Eli Lilly and Co. dinged by the U.K.-based Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority, a self-regulatory group. And what exactly counts as “excessive”? Seven pints of beer, two gins, two whiskies, seven whisky liqueurs and three large glasses of red wine—oh, and a taxi fare afterward, according to a summary of the case posted by the practice authority. The booze was purchased at an Indian restaurant for three Lilly sales reps and two diabetes nursing specialists. The occasion was the endocrinologist speaking about off-label uses of Byetta. The practice authority asked Lilly to look into the complaints of an ex-employee, but Lilly said there was no case to answer. The authority determined otherwise, which is why it gave Lilly its public flogging.
Indiana University Health has pulled a prominent practice of cancer physicians into its fold. Central Indiana Cancer Centers sold its five facilities to IU Health and transferred its 150 employees to the Indianapolis-based hospital system. The 16 physicians in the practice will remain independent, but they have signed a service agreement with IU Health. Financial terms of the deal, which closed June 1, were not disclosed. But it is a big win for IU Health, as Central Indiana Cancer Centers has a well-established presence in Carmel, Fishers, Greenfield, Greenwood and the east side of Indianapolis. Cancer services are key financially for hospitals because of the growing prevalence of the disease, and also because cancer patients often need surgery. IU Health now has more than 60 medical oncologists, not counting any of its radiation oncologists or cancer surgeons. Central Indiana Cancer Centers, established near Community Hospital-East in 1976, also had discussions with the three other major hospital systems in Indianapolis: Community, St. Vincent Health and Franciscan St. Francis Health. A partnership with a hospital became essential for Central Indiana Cancer Centers as hospitals have spent the past three years gobbling up physicians of all stripes—both primary care doctors and specialists. IU Health Physicians now employs more than 500 doctors and Community Health Network has more than 550.
City officials on Thursday unveiled a long-term plan to redevelop an industrial stretch northwest of downtown with the goal of attracting hundreds of residents and dozens of high-tech companies to the area. The ambitious urban renewal effort, dubbed the 16 Downtown Technology District, builds from a strategy discussed over more than a decade to turn the corridor between IUPUI and 16th Street into a life-sciences research hub. The idea is to create a trendy urban district where residents can live within blocks of work. The project could require $15 million to $20 million in public investment and hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment. It is expected to take 10-20 years to complete. Officials said a final agreement is near for the redevelopment of the historic Bush Stadium site, which is wedged between 16th Street and the White River near Harding Street. The city is contributing about $5 million to the $23 million project, including tax dollars generated in the area and more that will be transferred from the consolidated downtown tax-increment financing district. Developer John Watson said he also is seeking a federal loan to help finance part of the project. Indianapolis also will invest another $3 million in public money to renovate Indiana Avenue from roughly 10th Street to 16th Street with new landscaping, walking paths, bike lanes and other streetscape elements designed to brand the area. That funding will come from initial proceeds from the sale of the city’s water and sewer utilities to Citizens Energy Group.
The latest physician recruitment survey from Texas-based Merritt Hawkins shows three-quarters of all physician searches include a performance bonus for the doctor. Fewer than 10 percent of those bonuses are tied to something other than volume of procedures.
Battered by stagnant population growth and blue-collar job loss, Howard Regional Health is merging with Indiana University Health—a deal that reflects the challenges faced by hospitals in Indiana’s outlying cities.
Community Health Network has embarked on a strategy to become a low-cost, high-output machine in order to survive the coming harsh economic environment that an aging population and expanded health care coverage promises for hospitals.
Those who try to predict the future do not tell us their track records, but they do ask us to buy their books.
Central Indiana Cancer Centers sold its five facilities to IU Health and transferred its 150 employees to the Indianapolis-based hospital system. The 16 physicians in the practice will remain independent, but they have signed a service agreement with IU Health that pulls the two entities into a tight embrace.
An economic recovery blowing against their backs propelled some Indianapolis-area companies to scorching growth.
Eli Lilly and Co. is getting into orthopedics. The Indianapolis-based drugmaker signed a deal with Swiss company Synthes Inc. to co-promote the bone drug Forteo to orthopedic surgeons and to license some experimental drugs to Synthes. The companies also will team up to study an additional use for Forteo in fracture healing. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Synthes specializes in developing and selling instruments, implants and biomaterials to fix bone and soft tissues. It has agreed to sell itself to New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson for $21 billion. In a separate development, Lilly won the first round in a court battle with another development partner, San Diego-based Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. A federal judge rejected Amylin’s claim that, if Lilly uses the same sales force to sell Byetta, a diabetes medicine made by Amylin, and Tradjenta, a diabetes pill made by Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, it would be anti-competitive. Amylin promised to appeal.
Three weeks after the CEO of Riley Hospital for Children resigned, his right-hand man announced his departure, too. Brett D. Lee, the chief operating officer at Riley, announced his plans June 8 to leave the Indianapolis hospital for a new job in Atlanta. His last day will be July 6. It’s not clear if Lee’s departure is connected to the May 20 resignation of Dan Fink, who had been CEO of Riley for about two years. Fink was replaced as CEO on an interim basis by Marilyn Cox, Riley’s chief nursing officer. Lee was considered a rising star at Riley, which is part of the Indianapolis-based Indiana University Health hospital system. Less than a year after being hired by Riley in April 2010, Lee was named the young health care executive of the year by the American College of Healthcare Executives, in part for his work applying Six Sigma and lean-process methods to the health care environment. Lee will become senior vice president of clinical operations at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the nation’s largest provider of pediatric care. It has three free-standing hospitals, with a total of 520 beds, as well as 17 outpatient facilities throughout the Atlanta metro area.
Carmel-based Woll Enterprises Inc. has won a contract to commercialize three medical products invented by two Florida physicians. Dr. Nevenka Horvat and Dr. Branimir Horvat, of Sarasota, Fla., have developed a medication for relief from psoriasis and eczema; a placental blood extractor; and a sequential lymphedema pump for removing excess fluid from swollen limbs. Woll Enterprises will try to locate funding to move the products toward market approval.
Dow AgroSciences LLC announced a deal to purchase assets from Iowa-based Sansgaard Seed Farms Inc. Indianapolis-based Dow Agro will receive rights to Sansaard’s Praide Brand Seed brand, as well as other marketing assets, land, buildings and equipment. Sansgaard’s Iowa headquarters and staff will remain intact. But now Dow Agro will market its corn and soybean seeds under the Prairie Brand name. Dow has made several acquisitions of seed distributors in the past three years to build a distribution network for its SmartStax genetically engineered seed, as well as future innovations, like its Enlist Weed Control System for corn and soybeans. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Nyhart, an Indianapolis-based actuarial and employee-benefits consulting firm, has acquired Atlanta-based Stanley, Holcombe & Associates, which focused on public pensions and defined-benefit retirement consulting. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Nyhart will keep the existing Atlanta office space as well as retain the entire Atlanta staff. The deal gives Nyhart a base of retirement clients that have more than $14 billion in plan assets.In December, Nyhart announced the purchase of the Kansas City, Mo., operations of retirement consultancy Alliance Benefit Group.
This week, we dealt with the trial of alleged child-murderer Casey Anthony, the tribulations of congressman-cum-confessor Anthony Weiner, the revisionist American history of professor Palin, and assorted other tales.
We do not generally praise doctors who help dispatch their terminally ill patients, as Kevorkian repeatedly and unashamedly did.
A federal experiment of accountable care organizations produced lackluster results, adding to withering criticism of federal rules proposed for ACOs. But local hospital systems like Indiana University Health aren’t backing away from the idea.
RepuCare OnSite LLC hired J. Spencer Milus as executive vice president. Milus most recently ran her own consulting firm focused on employer health and wellness strategies. She previously worked for Indianapolis-based benefits consultancy First Person Benefit Advisors, Community Health Network’s Infinity Employer Health Solutions and health insurer WellPoint Inc. RepuCare and its parent company, RepuCare Inc., provide medical staffing and on-site health care services.
Dr. Charles E. Kinsella has joined St. Francis Medical Group and established a practice with the newly formed Pulmonary & Sleep Specialists in Greenwood. Kinsella most recently was associated with Southside Pulmonary and Sleep Consultants in Greenwood.
Johnson Memorial Hospital named Steve Jarosinski chief officer of physician practices, managing the hospital’s employed physicians. He previously served as the hospital’s vice president of clinical operations.
Johnson Memorial named Richard Kester its new director of specialty ancillary services. He previously served as vice president of clinical services at Rush Memorial Hospital in Rushville.
When customers are few, it’s time for a price cut. With only 177 Hoosiers signed up for the federal Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan created by the 2010 health reform law, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services decided to drop premiums 26 percent. Now adults aged 45-54 can buy into the plan for $284 per month or $295 for a health savings account. The plan was created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. health care reform) to provide coverage to Americans until 2014, when health insurers will no longer be allowed to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. Nationwide, only 18,000 people have signed up for the plan—far below expectations. The department cut prices 40 percent or more in 17 states. In addition, the government will begin paying insurance agents and brokers this fall for connecting eligible participants to the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan.
Roche Diagnostics Corp. landed an $11.4 million contract to provide laboratory testing services at military hospitals in the Washington, D.C., area. Switzerland-based Roche operates its North American diagnostic headquarters out of Indianapolis, where it employs 2,900 people. The new contract with the Medcom Contracting Center North Atlantic was awarded May 19 and will run until Sept. 30, but has four one-year renewal options. Roche equipment will conduct tests of blood and other fluids at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., as well as the new Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in Virginia. Roche Diagnostics sells mid- and high-volume laboratory analyzers, such as its new cobas 8000 machine, to hospitals and academic medical centers. It also sells diagnostict machines for use by physicians in their offices and for other small-scale situations. In all, Roche's professional diagnostics business accounts for one-third of its total North American sales, or about $880 million. Roche Diagnostics also makes tests for diabetes and genetic traits, as well as gene sequencers and other diagnostic equipment. Its North American sales totaled $2.6 billion last year.
International Medical Group Inc., an Indianapolis-based seller of international health insurance policies, had signed a marketing partnership with a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, the New York-based insurance and consulting firm. IMG’s products, which provide coverage for and coordination of medical care to individuals and groups while traveling abroad, will be marketed nationally under the Gateway brand name.
So much for that prediction. A week after a report declared Indianapolis hospitals near saturation on physician hiring, two more deals were announced.
In a monthly feature that runs in the first issue of the month, through October, IBJ is identifying influential players in eight different industry categories. Formidable brainpower sums up the individuals included in our list of Who’s Who in Life Sciences.
Over the last three years, all major hospitals in Indianapolis have been active in hiring physicians. Competition was especially intense for cardiologists.
