Indianapolis philanthropist Lorene Burkhart sees the field of physician-patient interaction moving away from
a simple follow-doc’s-orders approach to one where patients are more responsible and more questioning. Her new book,
“Sick of Doctors? A Patient Prescription for Patient Empowerment,” was published this month by Indianapolis-based
Curtis Publishing Co.
What would you do with $10 million? Indiana Health Information Technology Inc. wants to spend it to link
five medical records exchanges that operate separately around the state. The statewide organization received the money from
programs created by the federal stimulus bill. The group will link existing exchanges operated in and around Indianapolis,
Bloomington, Cincinnati, Fort Wayne and South Bend.
What’s this? A health insurance company trying to compete against Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in central Indiana?
Consumer Life Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Medical Mutual of Ohio, has opened an office in Carmel with
intentions to sell group and individual policies. Consumers Life, which operates primarily in southern and northeastern Indiana,
has been expanding its network of doctors and hospitals in an attempt to reach statewide. The company has negotiated rates
with 44 hospitals and 5,000 physicians, and now employs 13 at its Carmel office, with plans to add more. It intends to extend
its SuperMed provider network statewide by the end of 2010.
Attaboy, here’s another contract. The Indiana State Department of Health awarded a $434,000 contract to the University
of Indianapolis Center for Aging & Community to lead an initiative to reduce infections acquired in health care
facilities. The new Indiana Healthcare Associated Infection Initiative will target such things as infections acquired from
catheters that aren’t completely sterile or from side effects of antibiotic use. The 15-month Indiana program will begin
in July and include at least 80 hospitals, nursing homes and home-health agencies. The latest initiative is modeled on the
Indiana Pressure Ulcer Prevention Initiative, which UIndy also oversees under a state contract. The first round of the pressure
ulcer initiative involved more than 160 hospitals, long-term care centers and home-health care providers and decreased the
incidence of pressure ulcers by 30 percent.
St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers has acquired a six-doctor orthopedic surgery practice that operates
in St. Francis’ Mooresville hospital. Joint Replacement Surgeons of Indiana fully integrated with St.
Francis on Monday, the hospital system announced. The physician group will be called St. Francis Medical Group-Joint Replacement
Surgeons. The doctors will continue working out of the St. Francis-Mooresville campus and the St. Vincent Indianapolis
Hospital campus on West 86th Street.
Eli Lilly and Co. paid $50 million for exclusive rights from Acrux Ltd. to an underarm testosterone lotion
called Axiron for men with limited sex drive due to low levels of the hormone, according to Bloomberg News. Indianapolis-based
Lilly will also pay Acrux, based in West Melbourne, Australia, $3 million when manufacturing assets are transferred. Acrux
may earn $87 million more if U.S. regulators approve the drug for sale, an additional $195 million in commercial milestone
payments, and royalty payments on future sales.
Clarian Health is expanding its LifeLine Critical Care Transport service to Lafayette and Muncie, making
its Clarian Arnett and Ball Memorial Hospital into regional centers for critical care. When the new cities come online in
July, LifeLine will operate from six bases. Its other locations are in Indianapolis, Columbus, Kokomo and Terre Haute. Each
LifeLine team includes a pilot, nurse, and a flight paramedic or respiratory therapist, depending on the needs of the patient
being transported. LifeLine conducts more than 1,500 flights annually.
Indianapolis-based Nyhart Co. has acquired ASAP Flex Plans, a 7-year-old firm that helps
smaller employers administer employee flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, health reimbursement accounts and
COBRA benefits. ASAP owner John Baird will join Nyhart as a consultant, spearheading a rollout of new flexible spending accounts
by year’s end. ASAP’s 150 clients will be served under the Nyhart name.
St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers has acquired Joint Replacement Surgeons of Indiana, a six-doctor practice that
operates in St. Francis' Mooresville hospital.
Michele Thomas Dole has been a wealth adviser at JP Morgan Chase and development director of the IU Foundation.
Indianapolis-based PolicyStat LLC raised $1.15 million in angel capital from 31 individuals and Halo Capital Group.
Dr. Beata Samuel joined Accent Pediatrics, a Community Physicians of Indiana office. Originally from Dallas,
Samuel earned her medical degree at Bangalore University in India.
Susan Perkins, a registered nurse, has been appointed disaster management coordinator at St. Francis Hospital
& Health Centers. Perkins previously worked at the hospital in emergency room services.
The Indianapolis Medical Society hopes an online database that compares one doctor's reimbursement rates against market
averages helps its members negotiate with health plans.
Dr. Patrick J. Loehrer Sr. replaces Dr. Stephen D. Williams, the center’s founding director, who died of cancer in February
2009.
Doctors dodged yet another bullet last night as the U.S. Senate agreed to delay a scheduled 21-percent cut in Medicare payments
to physicians. But their relief will be short-lived.
Dr. Judy Monroe will end a five-year run as Indiana state commissioner of health on March 8. She will become
deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overseeing communication between federal and state
public health agencies. Until Gov. Mitch Daniels names a replacement, Monroe’s deputy, Loren Robertson, will fill her
shoes.
Community Heart and Vascular, a unit of Community Health Network, named Kevin Fowler chief financial officer.
Fowler, who earned his MBA at Indiana State University, has been the CFO at Lubbock Heart Hospital in Texas since 2007.
Community Heart and Vascular hired two electrophysiologists, Dr. Chad Bonhomme and Dr. Krishna Malineni,
along with Dr. Shalabh Singhal, an invasive cardiologist. The unit of Community Health Network has now hired
eight physicians in the past year.
OrthoWorx, a Warsaw-based group focused on advancing the city’s orthopedics implant industry, named Cheryl
Blanchard as its chairperson. Blanchard is chief scientific officer at Warsaw-based Zimmer Holdings Inc.
Bloomington-based Cook Pharmica promoted Veda Walcott to be its vice president of quality and corporate
compliance officer. Walcott has worked for Cook Pharmica since 2005 after stints at Cook Medical and Baxter BioPharma Solutions.
Dr. Richard Aina, an internist who focuses on chronic diseases, has joined St. Vincent Physician Network
in Indianapolis. Aina received his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Champaign, Ill.
Duane M. Schmitz, a former executive at Eli Lilly and Co., has joined Indianapolis-based Harrison College
as president of its online division. Nearly half of the for-profit school’s students take at least one course online.
Dr. Judy Monroe, after five years as Indiana’s public health leader, will spearhead communication between federal and state
health agencies.
While insurers get the blame for rising health-care costs for consumers, surging fees from hospitals and the growing dominance
of such providers may be just as responsible for driving up expenses, according to a new study examining California's
market.
Dr. Rafat Abonour, associate dean of clinical research the Indiana University School of Medicine and its
Simon Cancer Center, has been named chairman of the Hoosier Oncology Group’s board of directors.
Dr. Kenneth Lazarus and Dr. Sandeep Batra have joined the Riley Hospital Hematology/Oncology
at Clarian North Medical Center in Carmel.
Dr. Katherine Moss Pedersen, a pediatrician, has joined St. Vincent Physician Network in Zionsville.
No incentive can make a bad deal bankable. But President Obama’s stimulus measures are spurring some promising small businesses
to begin borrowing again, despite the recession.
Stimulus funds will help university’s technical assistance service show doctors and nurses in small groups and in medically under-served areas how to adopt medical-records technologies.
Jeff Radabaugh has been promoted to vice president of Clarian Health’s ambulatory services, which
include LifeLine Critical Care Transport, Clarian Home Care and Hospice services, Clarian Sleep Disorders Centers and Clarian
Occupational Health programs. Radabaugh’s group now also will support Clarian Health affiliates throughout the state.
Cara Breidster, corporate controller for Clarian Health, has been promoted to vice president of finance
and corporate controller.
Debra Bedwell, a registered nurse, has been named
director of Community MedCheck Express.
Kelly Grabman has been
named site manager for Community Physicians of Indiana’s County Line Medical Pavilion.
Sharon Jenkins was named site manager for Pendleton Medical Group,
Lapel Medical Arts and Fortville Community Medicine.
Teresa Miller, a registered
nurse, has been named clinical manager for the intensive care and progressive care unit at Community
Hospital South.
Timothy Tapp was named chief operating officer at Gallahue Mental Health Services.
The Indiana Clinic, launched about a year ago, has signed 412 physicians as employees, and is still working
toward a goal of as many as 1,500 by 2011. The clinic, a joint venture of Clarian Health and the Indiana University
School of Medicine, is headed by Dr. John Fitzgerald. He discussed the progress.
