OK, I’m convinced: Hospitals actually are transforming
There are clear signs that hospitals nationally, and even here in Indianapolis, are actually starting to make good on their promises to keep patients healthier and out of the hospital.
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Articles
Prescription could be required to buy cold medicine
Over-the-counter medications for common colds and allergies could become more regulated under a Indiana House bill introduced last week.
Bill calls for concussion training for high school coaches
Indiana could soon become the first state to require high school football coaches to take part in a player safety and concussion-training course.
People
Dr. Anthony Sorkin, an orthopedic trauma surgeon, has been named system medical director of Indiana University Health Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. Sorkin joined IU Health Physicians a year ago to treat patients with traumatic injuries at IU Health Methodist Hospital. Prior to IU Health, Sorkin served as director of orthopedic traumatology for Rockford Orthopedics in Illinois. Sorkin earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Miami and his medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Dr. Sachin Mehta, a rehabilitation and physical medicine doctor, has joined Franciscan Physician Network Rehabilitation Specialists in Indianapolis. He most recently served as medical director of the brain injury and rehabilitation programs at Marianjoy Medical Group, Wheaton, Ill. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology at Lehigh University and a medical degree from the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Company news
The folks at Lumosity, the San Francisco company that tries to improve human brain cognition, must have cheered when they saw this study partly led by a researcher at the Indiana University School of Medicine. The study, published this month by the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, found that seniors who underwent exercises meant to boost mental sharpness still showed benefits up to a decade later. The study involved 2,800 seniors living independently in Indianapolis and six other regions. Lumosity, which makes a smartphone app to exercise your brain, is one of numerous programs, both online and offline, that are meant to boost mental sharpness in older adults.
Over-the-counter medications for common colds and allergies, such as DayQuil, could become harder to obtain under an Indiana House bill introduced this month. According to the Associated Press, HB-1106, authored by Rep. Rebecca Kubacki, R-Syracuse, would make medication containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine a schedule III drug, which means it couldn’t be purchased without a doctor’s visit and prescription. An existing law puts a limit on how much ephedrine and pseudoephedrine can be purchased in a day, month or year. But, Kubacki said she doesn’t think the law goes far enough. However, Dr. Richard Feldman, chairman of legislation for the Indiana Academy of Family Physicians, said the medical community prefers the existing legislation to Kubacki’s new bill. “We think it’s adequate; we don’t want any more restrictions,” Feldman said. He added, “The last thing that the doctors I talked to want is to be overrun with patient visits for an over-the-counter drug that should remain over-the-counter, rather than seeing patients who deserve their attention.”
WellPoint Inc.’s core operations turned out more profit than the company predicted, the Indianapolis-based health insurer disclosed in a Jan. 13 securities filing. WellPoint raised its 2013 profit forecast to $8.52 per share, up 12 cents from a previous forecast of $8.40 per share. The company has yet to close its books on 2013. It will reveal its actual 2013 financial results Jan. 29. The new forecast roughly matches what Wall Street analysts were expecting. A survey of 23 analysts by Thomson Reuters found an average 2013 profit forecast of $8.51 per share, even before the disclosure. Both WellPoint’s and analyst forecasts exclude a variety of special charges, such as investment gains, the early extinguishment of debt, a favorable tax ruling and a charge related to WellPoint’s sale of its 1-800-Contacts subsidiary. When those items are included, WellPoint’s 2013 profit would total $8.20 per share, according to Monday’s disclosure. In October, WellPoint predicted full-year profit would total $8.45 per share. But that was before the 54-cent-per-share charge for the 1-800-Contacts sale was announced.
In late December 2013, the Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis gave $440,376 to three organizations that will help Hoosiers navigate the Obamacare health insurance exchange. A grant of $270,000 was awarded to Indiana 2-1-1, a call-in service for obtaining information about social assistance, to maintain detailed information about the exchange navigators and application counselors that have been approved by the government to help exchange customers. A sample conducted in May 2013 showed that 38 percent of callers to Indiana 2-1-1 have at least one person in the household without health insurance. The Indiana Primary Health Care Association will receive $70,376 to train 26 certified Navigators to provide continuing education to at least 126 state-certified Navigators in state-funded and federally qualified health centers. Because of the cost of the federal certification process, many state-funded health centers, especially in rural areas, have been unable to certify their enrollment staff. Also, $100,000 was granted to Eskenazi Health to extend its media and outreach campaign through the end of the first open enrollment period in March 2014. The campaign promotes Eskenazi Health’s toll-free Navigator Call Center (1-855-202-1053), which answers consumer questions and provides assistance in obtaining health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges.
Hopelessly divided Congress agrees on one thing: Cutting payments to providers
Congress’ recent willingness to play hardball with providers is driving providers to cautiously embrace concepts—like pay-for-performance and keeping patients out of the hospitals—they have long resisted.
Indiana board suspends doctor linked to 31 deaths
The Indiana Medical Licensing Board on Wednesday suspended the license of 83-year-old Dr. Frank Campbell, former medical director of the Madison County Community Health Center.
Riley building statewide physician network
Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health has signed up 200 area pediatricians to be part of its new physician network. The move is the first step in an effort to build a statewide network of doctors that would use the Riley brand.
Biological drug bill advances to full Senate
The Indiana Senate is set to consider legislation that could give patients access to more options for drug treatments that derive from biological organisms.
Nursing home construction measure passes Senate
Senate Bill 173 would prohibit the State Department of Health from approving the development of new nursing homes.
Company news
Eli Lilly and Co. is reportedly willing to pay as much as $3.7 billion to acquire a Massachusetts-based biotech company with a troubled leukemia drug, according to the U.K. newspaper The Mail. The paper claims that Indianapolis-based Lilly is the leading suitor for Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc., along with U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline plc and Ireland-based Shire PLC. All three firms made “friendly approaches” to Ariad, according to The Mail, and are willing to pay up to $20 per share. Ariad currently has 185.7 million shares outstanding, meaning such a purchase price would total $3.7 billion. The Mail is not a regular source of financial news, and its article bases its report on “whispers heard across the Pond” by “dealers.” Lilly spokesman Mark Taylor declined to comment on the rumors.
Hill-Rom Holdings Inc. said it will eliminate about 350 jobs over the next two years as a cost-saving move after the maker of hospital equipment saw profit grow slower than expected. Batesville-based Hill-Rom said 200 of the cuts will occur in the United States, with the balance occurring in Europe. Because the cuts will be made, in part, via a voluntary retirement program, Hill-Rom said it does not yet know how many cuts will occur in Indiana. The U.S. portion of the cuts are scheduled to be complete by the end of March. The European job cuts will play out over the next two years. The cuts, which represent about 5 percent of Hill-Rom’s 6,800 workers, will save the company $30 million per year, boosting profit by about 35 cents per share. Over the past four years, Hill-Rom has already eliminated about 1,000 jobs. “Economic uncertainty for our customers continues to impact the timing and the level of capital spending for our key product categories. The weak order rates in the last two quarters and the volatility over the past year reflect the challenges we continue to experience in our core market,” Hill-Rom CEO John Greisch told investors last week. Hill-Rom reported earnings per share of 22 cents in the three months ended Dec. 31, down 44 percent from the same quarter of 2012. Revenue fell 8 percent from the previous year, to $393 million.
The Indiana Senate passed a bill Thursday that would halt construction on nursing homes. Senate Bill 173 would also prohibit additional comprehensive care beds at existing facilities, according to the StatehouseFile.com, but continuing care retirement homes and assisted living would be exempt from the construction moratorium. “Building new facilities will add more unneeded beds at a time when utilization of skilled nursing facilities is decreasing,” said Sen. Patricia Miller, R-Indianapolis, who authored the bill. The bill now moves to the House for consideration.
The Indiana Medical Licensing Board suspended the license of Dr. Frank Campbell, an Anderson physician linked to drug-related deaths of 31 people. The Herald Bulletin reported the board also fined Campbell $500 on each of the six counts of violating physician regulations filed by state authorities. Campbell can seek reinstatement in a year. Campbell was medical director of the Madison County Community Health Center until the Drug Enforcement Administration questioned him last year over allowing two physician assistants to prescribe controlled substances using prescriptions he pre-signed. Campbell said he trusted the assistants and pre-signed prescriptions for expediency. An Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigator submitted a court affidavit saying 31 of Campbell's patients died drug-related deaths since January 2009.
New tiered network trips up IU Health, UnitedHealthcare talks
In spite of offers to strike a short-term extension, UnitedHealthcare and Indiana University Health are still hung up in contract negotiations on one key point: Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare wants to create a multi-tiered network of providers and services that would offer the lowest co-pays and deductibles for favored hospital systems—which IU Health is not.
St. Vincent hospitals not quite as rich as they seem
St. Vincent Health has been sending roughly $50 million to $70 million every year to its parent company, St. Louis-based Ascension Health, to support other hospitals in Ascension’s 93-hospital network.
Panel delays vote on bill to require prescription for cold meds
A committee heard two hours of testimony Monday on a bill that would make medicine containing pseudoephedrine a schedule III drug. The committee did not vote.
2014 Forty Under 40: K. Alicia Schulhof
K. Alicia Schulhof, 34, a senior vice president for IU Health, initially thought she wanted to be a physician. But while studying at Purdue University, she became involved in student organizations and found she enjoyed the administrative and leadership side.
Statehouse update: School safety, Common Core, teacher incentives, abortion and more
State lawmakers on Wednesday weighed in on legislation involving mobile-phone snooping, education issues, abortion restrictions, sex trafficking, guns, abandoned houses, veteran injuries and several more topics. Here’s a rundown.
People
Community Health Network named Ron Thieme, the former CEO of AIT Laboratories, its chief knowledge and information officer. Thieme, who served on Community’s board of directors, succeeded AIT founder Michael Evans as CEO of the medical lab business in 2012 but was then replaced by Evans later that year. Thieme holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Purdue University.
Dr. David Crabb has been named the new chief of internal medicine at Eskenazi Health, replacing Dr. William Tierney, who remains CEO of the Indianapolis-based Regenstrief Institute Inc. Crabb, an internist and gastroenterologist, has been on the Indiana University School of Medicine faculty since 1983. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and a medical degree from the IU medical school.
Community Physician Network named Dr. David Kiley senior specialty care medical director. Kiley, an OBGYN, also serves as vice president of clinical performance for Community’s north region. He holds a medical degree from the IU School of Medicine.
Lilly’s path to redemption: Turn new drugs into sales
This year will be ugly for Eli Lilly and Co., after the recent loss of two blockbusters, but it also gives Lilly an opportunity it hasn’t really had for nearly a decade: grow sales and profit by launching new drugs.