Medicare unveils far-reaching overhaul of doctors’ pay
The majority of medical professionals billing Medicare—some 600,000 doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and therapists—will be affected.
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Ombudsman blasts Nightingale; company calls report flawed
A court-appointed patient care ombudsman who looked into Nightingale Home Healthcare’s operations says he found more than 1,300 complaints from patients and family members since 2011.
Medicare plan on payment for cancer drugs stirs battle
A Medicare proposal to test new ways of paying for chemotherapy and other drugs given in a doctor's office has sparked a furious battle, and cancer doctors are demanding that the Obama administration scrap the experiment.
Time to cheer on the struggling YMCA
The national not-for-profit organization, trying to fight back against high-end gyms and boutique studios, is now a national model for diabetes prevention.
Feds want to cut off funding for Carmel home health firm
Carmel-based Nightingale Home Healthcare Inc. is trying to keep from being kicked out of the federal Medicare program for allegedly putting patients in “immediate jeopardy,” according to documents in a bankruptcy reorganization case the company filed in December.
Anthem merger partner banned from Medicare sales for ‘widespread failures’
Cigna Corp., which has agreed to a $48 billion merger with Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc., has committed systemic violations that threatened patients’ health, U.S. regulators say.
Carmel-based Stratice aims to be Amazon of health care
Carmel-based Stratice Healthcare LLC wants to take the concept of electronic prescribing for drugs and extend it to most of the rest of the health care system.
Cash crunch forces large home health agency into bankruptcy protection
Carmel-based Nightingale Home Healthcare Inc., which serves nearly 900 Hoosier patients, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and won court approval to borrow $350,000 from its parent company to make payroll.
Nursing homes work to ‘rebalance’ Medicaid spending without managed care
State government has long wanted to shift spending on long-term care from nursing homes to home- and community-based care. Now Gov. Mike Pence’s administration is working with nursing homes to make that happen.
Despite stronger economy, insurers keep up pressure on hospitals, doctors
Anthem touts program saving $9.51 per patient per month—but passes on less than half the savings to hospitals and doctors.
Experts see big premium increases for Medicare drug plan
With time running out on open-enrollment season, many seniors are facing sharply higher costs for Medicare's popular prescription drug program after a long stretch of stable premiums.
Indy lawyers lead D.C. coalition chipping away at health care regulations
With regulations on the rise and 25 percent of health care spending going toward administration, lawyers at Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman are taking aim at some of the most pain-inducing pieces of federal anti-kickback statutes.
Advantage CEO exits after un-reported losses come to light
Vicki Perry, the longtime CEO of Advantage Health Solutions Inc., has been replaced after a financial review found “significant un-reported losses” at the Indianapolis-based health insurer.
Covering the uninsured brings only a small benefit for the insured
Hospitals have long argued that they pass on the cost of the uninsured to private insurance customers. But a new study shows that’s less than half-true.
Eskenazi launches $50M effort to take brain care around the world
The safety-net hospital system in Indianapolis will create the Center for Brain Care Innovation and try to use telemedicine and a digital avatar to reach as many as 150,000 Hoosiers and 10 million patients outside Indiana by 2030.
Go figure: As patients’ anger over costs spikes, health care prices barely budge
Patients’ anger over high deductibles and high drug prices is spurring presidential candidates to respond—even as the actual prices of health care services are growing slower than at any time since 1990.
Hospital CEO: Telehealth could dampen future health care construction
Bryan Mills, CEO of the Community Health Network hospital system, said a recent pickup in health care construction could slow down if providers can successfully care for patients remotely via the Internet and phones.
GOP wanted consumer-driven health care; Obamacare made it happen.
Since President Obama’s health law passed in 2010, deductibles on employer health plans have risen nearly seven times faster than wages and nearly three times faster than premiums, leaving consumers exposed more than ever to the sky-high cost of care.
Hospital-owned docs send more patients to lower-quality, higher-cost hospitals
When hospitals employ doctors—which is now the norm in central Indiana—more of those doctors’ patients end up going to hospitals with higher costs and poorer quality, according to a new study.
Community set to go whole hog on new value-based payments
CEO Bryan Mills has set a goal to make 75 percent of revenue—or $1.5 billion a year—be covered by value-based contracts—which means Community would be rewarded for keeping patients out of the hospital. A new venture is Mills’ strategy to get there.