Eli Lilly and Co. thinks it has a secret weapon to return to growth. No, it’s not a new blockbuster drug—although Lilly will most likely have several new products hit the market this year and next. Rather, it’s an unorthodox, softer approach put into play by its U.S. sales force.
Indianapolis-based Cornerstone Cos. Inc. is working on plans for an $11 million medical office building near St. Vincent and IU Health hospitals in Fishers.
Initial 2015 premiums filed for the Obamacare exchanges in Indiana ranged from as high as a 46-percent hike to as low as a 9-percent cut. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield wants an average increase of 9.7 percent.
RANAC Corp., a small firm in Indianapolis, cut its spending on health benefits 25 percent after dropping its group health plan. Could it be a sign of things to come?
The Indianapolis-based developer bought the building on Old Meridian Street early this year from The Spine Institute—its only tenant at the time—and now has the facility fully leased.
The 5-year-old firm has pledged to invest $20 million to double the size of its corporate headquarters in Indianapolis and lease real estate for a series of 3,500-square-foot health clinics across the state.
Getting everyone into the same room prior to surgeries is cutting costs and improving health.
A report found the VA’s Eastern Area Fiduciary Hub in Indianapolis was “not timely processing allegations of misuse of beneficiary funds, conducting field examinations, and processing some incoming mail.”
Indianapolis-based health insurer WellPoint Inc. will start paying cancer doctors $350 per month more for every WellPoint patient they treat—if the doctors agree to follow WellPoint’s recommended treatment plans, according to the Wall Street Journal. The program aims to curb the 25-percent annual growth in spending on cancer care and to reduce the nearly one-third of chemotherapy patients who receive treatment conflicting with current medical evidence and best practices. The extra payments are also designed to make it easier financially for oncology practices to prescribe lower-cost drugs—because the revenue oncologists make from those drugs is less than more expensive drugs. Because oncologists not only prescribe, but also infuse many cancer drugs into their patients, the drugs often account for a substantial amount of their practice revenue. The program will be implemented July 1 in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin.
Radiopharmaceuticals maker Zevacor Molecular plans to open a $40 million medical isotope-production facility in Noblesville, creating nearly 50 jobs within five years. Noblesville will provide an estimated $1.9 million—about 85 percent of the new property taxes the project should produce—in equipment and other necessities, according to a development deal the Common Council unanimously approved Tuesday. The agreement also calls for Zevacor to get a 95-percent abatement on personal property taxes for 10 years. Zevacor, which has eight employees and an office in Fishers, is a for-profit subsidiary of Decatur, Ill.-based not-for-profit Illinois Health & Science—also the parent of Decatur Memorial Hospital. It operates hospital cyclotrons and nuclear pharmacies in several states, said Kenneth Smithmier, Illinois Health’s president and CEO. A similar facility in Noblesville had been planned three years ago by Positron Corp., but the company failed to line up the necessary financial support.
The Indiana University School of Medicine will help oversee a three-year, $30 million concussion study being funded by the Indianapolis-based NCAA and the U.S. Defense Department, according to the Associated Press. The study, which will involve athletes from as many as 30 universities, will be led by IU's School of Medicine in collaboration with the University of Michigan and the Medical College of Wisconsin. IU researchers aim to collect data on 37,000 athletes.
Indianapolis-based OurHealth LLC plans to create a network of health care clinics serving employers across Indiana over the next four years and hire up to 450 people. The 5-year-old company has pledged to invest nearly $20 million, which would include the cost of doubling the size of its headquarters downtown. It currently leases about 10,000 square feet at OneAmerica Tower. OurHealth also plans to lease real estate for a series of 3,500-square-foot health clinics across the state. In June, OurHealth plans to begin hiring certified medical assistants, health coaches, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and doctors to staff its clinics. OurHealth’s website already has posted job openings in Kokomo, Logansport, Madison, Merrillville and Indianapolis. The firm employs more than 120 people and operates 15 clinics, most of which are dedicated to a single employer. The new clinics typically would serve multiple employers.
French drug company Sanofi will seek to sell Eli Lilly and Co.’s erectile dysfunction drug Cialis without a prescription, the companies announced last week, according to Bloomberg News. Sanofi will apply for approval of Cialis as an over-the-counter treatment in the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia, and will market the drug after certain patents expire. The deal hinges on regulatory approval in each country—a big question mark, according to analysts. The plan gives Sanofi access to a drug that garnered $2.16 billion in sales last year and faces generic competition in 2017.
Cornerstone Cos. plans to locate the $11 million project near Interstate 69.
While the biggest hospital profit margins are made in the suburbs, the biggest pile of cash—$353 million in 2012—is made at the three downtown campuses run by Indiana University Health. In fact, those hospitals generated 32 percent of all operating gains posted by central Indiana hospitals in 2012.
When the next enrollment season opens for the Obamacare exchange in Indiana, more than half the “health insurers” will actually be doctors and hospitals.
Naomi Pescovitz will helm the Saturday and Sunday editions of “News Sunrise,” beginning July 9.
A study has found that most doctors in Indiana aren't frequently using an electronic system designed to detect prescription drug abuse.
Thomas Mooney has been appointed CEO of Methodist Sports Medicine, overseeing three locations in Avon, Carmel and Greenwood. According to his LinkedIn profile, Mooney was most recently CEO of an orthopedic physician practice in central Pennsylvania. Mooney holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Towson State University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.
Bob Wade, a health care attorney at Indianapolis law firm Krieg DeVault LLP, was named the compliance expert to the board of Halifax Health in Daytona Beach, Fla. The hospital system agreed to an $85 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over alleged illegal contracts with doctors that violated the federal Stark statutes. Wade, an expert in the Stark laws, will help the hospital rewrite its contracts with physicians and establish a compliance program.
Brose McVey is leading a new health care clinic company that is squarely aimed at helping individuals, the self-employed and even large businesses deal with the new health care reality that is emerging under Obamacare.
The long-term-care pharmacy company, which puts Redbox-style vending machines in nursing homes, thinks a fresh infusion of cash will allow it to double revenue this year and become self-sustaining.
Auditors found that the agency’s complicated appointment process created confusion among schedulers and supervisors, and that a 14-day goal for seeing first-time patients was unattainable.
Dr. Ora Pescovitz is returning to Indianapolis after spending the past five years as CEO of the University of Michigan Health System.
