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Commentary: HealthNet casts a wide one

Indianapolis is becoming a much more international city. Consider some of the facts: Central Indiana’s Latino population is now 100,000, fifth-fastest-growing in the United States; one in five scientists at Eli Lilly is Chinese; and 2,000 Burmese immigrants live here. These tidbits and mounds of other information about immigration in our community can be found in the International Center’s coffee-table book, “New Faces at the Crossroads: The World in Central Indiana.” The book also contains the stories and beautiful photographs…

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Local mental health centers caught in funding limbo: Federal effort to shift costs to states on hold, but not-for-profits’ budgets for next year must be completed now

At Indianapolis-based Adult and Child Mental Health Center Inc., Executive Director Bob Dunbar has developed a contingency plan as he works on the agency’s $25 million budget for next year. He has two versions of a spending plan for the center, which provides mental health services for 4,200 children and adults a year. One includes moderate cuts tied to state funding changes, and the other deals with massive cuts pushed by the federal government. In the worst-case scenario, as much…

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Benicorp cleanup praised: Customers, employees ease through liquidation

When cash ran dry last summer at Indianapolis-based Benicorp Insurance Co., it could have created a major mess. But 10 months later, Indiana insurance regulators have kept all of Benicorp’s customers covered by health insurance and given its employees a soft landing as they make the transition to new jobs. The last of a backlog of claims has been paid off. “No family in Indiana will have an uncovered claim,” said Jim Atterholt, the Indiana commissioner of insurance. “That’s a…

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Construction behemoth Skanska sees potential in Indy: U.S. division of Swedish-based company sets sights on health care, education, pharmaceutical building sectors

New Jersey-based Skanska USA Building Inc., a division of the $23 billion Swedish construction powerhouse Skanska AB, arrived in Indianapolis in April. Named last year as the top green contractor in the nation by Engineering News-Record magazine, Skanska USA is recognized in particular for its projects in the health care, higher education and pharmaceutical sectors. Its largest project, however, is the $998 million Meadowlands football stadium under construction in New Jersey. Locally, Terry Parrott, 50, is in charge of operations….

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Electronic record system results from frustration: Doctor, partner hawking technology they developed

For Dr. Tim Story, frustration was the mother of invention. The Carmel internist didn’t like the cost or complexity of the electronic medical record systems he had seen. So he created his own. And now he’s trying to sell it to other doctors. “I wanted an EMR that I could use, that I could understand,” said Story, 55, who also chairs the largest group of physicians at Clarian North Medical Center. Story is by no means alone. Hundreds of doctors…

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Builders relying on medical projects: Amid general slowdown, health care sector busy

There’s no shortage of research pointing to the growth in the health care industry. For example, health care expenditures will account for nearly a quarter of the gross domestic product by 2020. Consumers are increasing the number of times they visit the doctor, and the increase is even greater for baby boomers. The number of medical procedures being performed on an outpatient basis rises yearly. And jobs in the industry will grow 20 percent by 2016. To meet those demands,…

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Hospitals are mixed bag for rural economies

Around Indiana, hospitals continue to grow and add workers, increasing their role as an economic driver to the state’s economy.
But health care reformers say hospital growth has a double edge, as higher health care costs dampen growth prospects for other
Indiana employers and their workers.

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Sommer Barnard merger pumps up attorney pay: Arrival of Cincy firm may lift starting salaries citywide

This month’s merger of the law firm Sommer Barnard PC into Cincinnatibased Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP likely will cause salaries for starting lawyers to escalate citywide. That’s because, starting June 1, Taft plans to pay its first-year associates here $107,500-more than the $100,000 firstyear associates currently make at the highest-paying Indianapolis firms. If history is any indication, the topthree Indianapolis firms of Ice Miller LLP, Baker & Daniels LLP and Barnes & Thornburg LLP, and likely a few others,…

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NOTIONS: Political promises no panacea for health care

A while back, I had lunch with my friend John. As is our wont, we talked about politics, religion, our families, joys, frustrations. When the subject turned to work, John told me he’s trying a new approach to fund raising and “friend-raising” for his small not-for-profit cancer agency. He’s cutting out the big, time-consuming special event and simply inviting people in for a one-hour introduction to medically under-served cancer patients and how his organization helps. I told him I’d like…

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EDITORIAL: Leadership has its rewards: Health info exchange is exhibit A

Leadership has its rewards Health info exchange is exhibit A Being the best isn’t everything, but it goes a long way when you’re trying to attract money and expertise. That’s why it’s significant that the Indiana Health Information Exchange is taking its show on the road. As IBJ reporter J.K. Wall reported last week, those who oversee the platform for sharing patient records and test results electronically are preparing to make it available in other states. Hospitals and physicians in…

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NOTIONS: Indiana: See Hillary run against Jack, Bill & Barack

On the eve of the allegedly crucial Ohio presidential primary, I e-mailed a friend in Columbus to ask what it’s like in a state where primaries matter. Her response spoke of endless phone calls from volunteers and machines, get-outthe-vote visits to her neighborhood, yard signs everywhere, nonstop commercials on TV and candidate visits galore. I lamented that Indiana would never experience such a thing. I stand corrected. Thanks to the never-ending Democratic contest between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack…

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Docs dip toes into computerized records: Electronic systems are the future, but high costs slow adoption rate

Ask Cathy Molchan the cost of installing the electronic medical record system in a doctor’s office she administers, and she gives a clear, quantified answer: $80,000. Ask her whether the system saves the practice any money, and her answer is less concrete. “It can definitely save money because of the time savings,” said Molchan, practice administrator for Dr. Leo Bonaventura, an infertility specialist at Clarian North Medical Center. “You can actually be focused more on what you need to do,…

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Federal survey of patients puts hospitals to the test: Satisfaction questionnaire ranks criteria ranging from room cleanliness to communication skills of providers

New patient satisfaction scores compiled by the federal government and posted online give consumers more feedback than ever regarding the care hospitals provide. The usefulness of that information is up for debate. On its Hospital Compare Web site, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services tracks technical measures that show how often hospitals provide certain types of care that is recommended for patients treated for various conditions-heart attacks or pneumonia, for instance. Starting late last month, the agency began including…

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St. V: ERs needed in suburbs: Traditionally unprofitable service could thrive in two growing areas

Building these facilities i n proven “growth markets” such as Boone and Hamilton counties, however, should prove more prosperous, insists St. Vincent CEO Vincent Caponi. A more upscale demographic is the telling factor. Yet, the network of hospitals is not about to abandon its purpose of serving the needy. “That doesn’t mean the poor and underserved aren’t going to be coming to our front door,” Caponi said. “That’s always been part of our mission. We will continue [to], and gladly,…

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St. Francis thinking green in $42 million renovation: Mooresville hospital features ‘healing’ rooftop gardens

Guests attending the April 19 open house at the newly remodeled St. Francis Hospital-Mooresville will get a sneak peak at the facility’s $42 million makeover. The project increases the size of the campus from 258,000 square feet to almost 400,000 and adds everything from a new, eight-bed intensive care unit to two additional adult inpatient nursing units. But perhaps the most innovative touch-at least from an aesthetic point of view-can be found on the roof. Like a handful of other…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Could your doctor be prohibited from treating you?

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Jones, I can no longer be your doctor-at least not this side of the county line.” Patients would no doubt find it strange to hear these words from their family doctor, but longstanding law in Indiana says doctors may enter into noncompetition agreements that prohibit them from treating patients in certain geographic areas for a limited time. In March, the Indiana Supreme Court issued its first comprehensive ruling on physician noncompetition agreements in more than 20 years…

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Commentary: Israel through the eyes of a visitor

My wife, Janie, and I made some new friends on our recent trip to Israel, including Moira Carlstedt, president of the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership. I happily cede my space this week for her observations of the trip. It is like any hospital room in Indianapolis-except you can see the Lebanese border from the window, and you stand amid damage from a Hezbollah rocket that tore through that window. And then you understand the need for the underground hospital that…

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EYE ON THE PIE: It’s the money, not the jobs, stupid

“It’s jobs, jobs, jobs,” presidential and gubernatorial candidates shouted last week in Indiana. And the crowds responded in the affirmative, urging the candidates to promise more jobs for more Hoosiers. OK; jobs are good, but well-paying jobs are better. Since the 1980s, the state has claimed it is interested only in jobs that pay above the average for the area in which they are located. When challenged by the fact that the jobs being acclaimed do not always meet that…

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