Caponi to step down as St. Vincent system CEO
After overseeing 15 years of massive growth via mergers, Vince Caponi will become an executive of St. Vincent Health’s parent organization.
J.K. Wall
Articles
Tomisue Hilbert accuses Menard of pressuring her for sex, retaliating financially
In an explosive new lawsuit, Tomisue Hilbert has accused hardware store owner and former business partner John Menard of pressuring her to have sex with him and then retaliating against her and her husband Steve when she refused.
Good news, bad news for Cook stent business
While Bloomington-based medical-device maker won approval for new bile duct stent, it has recalled its hot-selling arterial stent from all global markets.
232,000 Hoosiers hang in balance in Pence-Obama wrangling over Medicaid
New analysis shows Obamacare would cut state’s uninsured rolls 49 percent, compared with just 18 percent if Gov. Mike Pence opts out of a Medicaid expansion.
IU Health agrees to sell occupational health clinics
US HealthWorks Medical Group, which specializes in workers’ compensation cases, agreed in May to acquire the eight clinics. The deal is expected to close before the end of June.
Hospitals proving themselves wrong about prices
Whenever a new report claims hospitals are charging too much, a stock set of defenses comes out. But hospitals are cutting prices and expenses as we speak, undermining those arguments.
Goodwill to open four more dropout recovery schools
But further expansion is on hold because of a state freeze on new adult-focused charter schools. Lawmakers are concerned the schools are siphoning funds from K-12 education.
Salesforce to keep ExactTarget independent, ‘invest’ in it
In a company memo, ExactTarget CEO Scott Dorsey assures employees of their importance after announcing deal to sell the company for $2.5 billion.
Are employers ready to limit workers’ choice of doctor?
The real test of so-called narrow network health plans will come not with Obamacare's exchanges, but with employers, who control a far bigger slice of the health benefits pie and have been highly reluctant to limit their workers' choice of hospitals and doctors.
Research institute tries to succeed where Michigan failed
While Indiana’s governor, legislature and life sciences executives are united behind the proposed Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, the state of Michigan has a cautionary tale to tell about such an effort.
Are hospitals on trajectory to pair up?
Indianapolis-area hospitals are undergoing such profound and permanent changes that some predict, eventually the four major hospital systems will merge and shrink down to two.
New institute aims to attract 100 research scientists to Indiana
The $360 million initiative will be formally launched on Thursday by Gov. Mike Pence, executives of five major life sciences companies and officials of the state’s research universities.
Docs court employers with health management service
Three years ago, the physician practice American Health Network was concerned that the boom in employer on-site clinics would hurt its business. So it launched a program aimed at managing the health of employers’ workers. And it has come up with some impressive results. Carmel-based American Health’s Employer Health Management program sends nurses to all […]
Indianapolis hospitals hit with tough bargaining environment
Aggressive construction wiped out historical territories, thus opening the door to insurers playing hospitals off each other.
Swedish shows stark contrast with Braly
One month into Joe Swedish's tenure as CEO of WellPoint Inc., he and the communications staff set up an interview with me. That was quite different from my experience with Angela Braly, who declined all of my interview requests in her 63 months as CEO.
Docs court employers with health management
Three years ago, the physician practice American Health Network was concerned that the boom in employer on-site clinics would hurt its business. So it launched a program aimed at managing the health of employers’ workers. And it has come up with some impressive results.
A dose of reality about the business of health care
Welcome to The Dose, a blog about the business of health care. As your host, J.K. Wall, I'll be writing about the most interesting new developments I see at hospitals, doctors, insurers, employers, patients, drugmakers, device companies and medical researchers around Indianapolis and around the country.
Think again: Why Obama’s disclosure of hospital charges won’t help you
In the first post on my new blog, The Dose, I explain why the recently released Medicare charge data are meaningless for everyone but uninsured patients.
New WellPoint CEO Joe Swedish thrives on complexity
Joe Swedish, a career hospital executive, is now two months into his job at the helm of Indianapolis-based WellPoint, the nation’s second-largest health insurer. In his first interview since starting work, Swedish indicated he’s taking his time to learn the people and the culture of the vast organization he now leads.