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Tom Murphy

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Major Hospital brings physician practices into the fold: Smaller doctor groups find health systems attractive

Major Hospital went on a buying spree toward the end of last year, and it had nothing to do with the holiday season. The Shelbyville hospital purchased three physician practices as part of an effort to help doctors and to make Major a “physician-friendly hospital,” Major Hospital CEO Tony Lennen said. “I’ve always felt if our physicians do well, we’ll do well,” he said. “Our goal down here is, ‘Is there some symbiotic way we can coexist?’ “We’ve always been…

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Living wills get surge of interest: Lawyers, caregivers, estate planners field more questions about advance directives in wake of Schiavo case

When Mick Meiners brings up living wills these days, his clients tend to pay more attention than they did before the Terri Schiavo case dominated headlines. “In the past, people would say, ‘Yeah, that might be something I might get to or it’s something my parents should do,'” said Meiners, a certified financial planner with Financial Plans & Strategies Inc. of Indianapolis. The St. Vincent Hospice also has seen a spike in interest, with more phone calls from people asking…

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Conseco hopes to receive crucial upgrade: Ratings firm A.M. Best Co. may make decision soon

The holiday season may arrive a few months early for Conseco Inc. if its subsidiaries receive the ratings upgrade that has topped their wish lists since their parent emerged from bankruptcy. A.M. Best Co. plans to complete a Conseco review this summer, and it probably will deliver the gift of good news afterward, according to some analysts who cover the Carmel-based holding company. New Jersey-based Best currently rates the financial strength of Conseco’s core subsidiaries at a B++ level, one…

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Youth sports get break: New law could cut Worker’s Comp premiums dramatically

State lawmakers scored a goal for youth sports this spring when they approved a bill that could save some clubs thousands
of dollars in present or future insurance premiums. Starting July 1, not-for-profits that have employees and pay youth coaches
part time under an independent contractor arrangement will not have to provide Worker’s Compensation benefits for those coaches.
State Sen. Murray Clark, R-Indianapolis, said he had travel teams or clubs in sports like soccer, volleyball or baseball in
mind when…

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Cancer society scouts Clarian property for development: Former retirement home may serve as a Hope Lodge

An empty retirement home near Methodist Hospital may turn into a lodge that gives cancer patients a place to rest while they receive treatment in Indianapolis. The American Cancer Society is talking with Clarian Health Partners about planting a Hope Lodge on the site of the former Indianapolis Retirement Home, which sits across from Methodist on busy North Capitol Avenue. The cancer society operates 23 of these lodges in several states, but this would be the first Indiana location, according…

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Med school takes hit: IU trims $5.2 million from budget, cuts 36 positions

The school tabled some construction plans and may have to curtail recruiting of “star” faculty in areas such as diabetes research, said Dr. Craig Brater, the school’s dean. On top of that, the school cut 36 positions and halted spending for several programs after it was hit by decreases in state funding and grants, and a rise in expenses. Brater said the medical school has been lucky “in large part” to receive the funding it needed over the years. He…

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Debate over health care development takes legal twist: Three county-imposed construction moratoriums face federal lawsuits

Hospitals and developers recently filed lawsuits in U.S. District Court against three counties that enacted moratoriums to slow health care construction in their territory. The Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Inc. sued Morgan County in April, and some Kentucky-based companies filed complaints against Clark and Floyd counties June 13. County officials say they need to make sure their county-owned hospitals remain viable in the face of more development. They also argue that providers want to enter their turf and…

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State malpractice safety net nears big rate hike: IRMIA to start double-digit increases July 1

Many health care providers who use Indiana’s safety-net malpractice insurance will find it less comfortable after a 36-percent rate increase kicks in July 1. Poor investment returns and increased enrollment, among other factors, have teamed up to force the Indiana Residual Malpractice Insurance Authority into one of its largest premium rate increases in years, according to Cindy Donovan, deputy commissioner of financial services operations for the Indiana Department of Insurance. Providers and insurers say the rate hike may push some…

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Departure could cost Standard millions: Former top executive seeks severance package worth about $3.8 mllion

Standard Management Corp. may have to add more than $10 million to the cost of completing its shift to health care services from financial services if a former top executive prevails with his severance claim. P.B. “Pete” Pheffer, the holding company’s former president and chief financial officer, became the latest top executive to leave Standard Management with a severance dispute when he resigned May 31. He claims his contract calls for a severance package worth roughly $3.8 million. On top…

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Hospitals sue over Medicare: 27 Indiana providers team up to pursue $15M in payments

More than 20 Indiana hospitals have banded together to sue the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over an estimated $15 million in Medicare payments they claim they should have received years ago. Clarian Health Partners, St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers and Wishard Health Services, among others, allege that the department and its secretary failed to make the proper percentage of “outlier” payments from 1991 to 1996. M e d i c a r e makes these additional…

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New providers fill up the market for air-rescue services: Indiana sees growth spurt in helicopter transport firms

Medical helicopters are filling the skies over Indiana in an unprecedented growth spurt that has sparked a heated debate about overuse and quality of care. A market once dominated by not-forprofit Clarian Health Partners’ LifeLine program has seen three out-of-state companies plant seven new helicopter bases in central and southern Indiana over the past few years. PHI Air Medical Group Indiana, a subsidiary of Phoenix-based PHI Air Medical Services, opened bases in West Lafayette, Anderson and Columbus last year. They…

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Wishard owner fishes growing revenue stream: Health and Hospital Corp. buys 19th nursing home

The owner of Wishard Memorial Hospital added a 19th nursing home to its investment portfolio earlier this year, as it continues to pull revenue from a market filled with struggling competitors. Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County purchased American Village Retirement Community, a complex of garden homes, apartments and a nursing home near the intersection of East 54th Street and Keystone Avenue, for $2.6 million, said Matt Gutwein, Health and Hospital president and CEO. Gutwein said the deal, like…

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Busy session for insurance forces: Compact passage highlights plethora of industry-related legislation considered by the General Assembly

State lawmakers also killed a bill that offers “mandate lite” health coverage and kept the topic of vicious dogs at bay during the 2005 legislative session. Insurance lobbyists and regulators say they just wrapped up one of the busiest sessions in recent memory. Topics ran a wide gamut and crowded committee calendars. Last year, five industry-supported bills made it through the General Assembly, according to Dan Tollefson, corporate counsel for the state Department of Insurance. This year, 15 did, and…

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Competition stakes claim on hospital’s turf: Dialysis center would sit 1 block south of Methodist

A real estate company has filed plans to build a medical office building and dialysis center downtown, in the shadow of Methodist Hospital and Clarian Health Partners. A and T Realty wants to plop a 13,416-square-foot office on what now is a parking lot a block south of Methodist, according to plans filed with the city. The development has no connection to Clarian, according to Mike Quinn, a lawyer representing A and T. Clarian, whose three downtown hospitals all offer…

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Vote sets up big switch for Standard: Company awaits insurance department’s approval of sale

With two key shareholder votes in his favor, Standard Management Corp. Chairman and CEO Ron Hunter made major strides last week in remaking the Indianapolis holding company. Common-stock shareholders overwhelmingly approved the sale of Standard Life Insurance Co. and Dixie National Life Insurance Co. to Louisville-based Capital Assurance Corp. May 18. Later that day, the company announced most of the holders of its trust-preferred securities agreed to a plan that preserves more than $20 million in cash for Standard in…

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Elite execs raking it in: As pay swells, critics urge restraint

Special Report: Elite execs raking it in As pay swells, critics urge restraint Highest-paid Indiana public company executives in fiscal ’04. Includes salary, bonus and other annual compensation, as well as long-term pay and stock option grants. 1) includes $1.7 million signing bonus received upon becoming CEO and president in August 2004 Turns out life’s certainties stretch way beyond the cliché about death and taxes, especially in corporate Indiana. If you’re a top executive at one of Indiana’s biggest public…

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Stock options lose favor, but still fuel big pay totals:

The numbers boggle the mind and dominate the pay totals. Last year, Eli Lilly and Co. boss Sidney Taurel received stock options that could balloon in value to $18 million over the next decade, even if the company’s shares underperform the stock market’s historical average return. The grant of options to buy 400,000 shares of stock accounted for nearly 80 percent of the $23 million in compensation doled out last year to Lilly’s chairman, CEO and president. Options made up…

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Health builders thinking small: Local hospital development in for change

Just north of Indianapolis, Clarian Health Partners plans to open a 170-bed hospital this December, a suburban complement to the 76-bed hospital it opened last December in Avon. To the south, St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers unveiled a heart center in March, counterbalancing the two stand-alone heart hospitals that sprang up on the north side a few years ago. These projects offer a snapshot of how health care development has progressed over the past few years in central Indiana….

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Union puts Harborside Healthcare on defensive: Publicity campaign highlights problems at local homes

Feces in the shower. Pressure sores. Dead worms in the corner of one building. “Be careful who you trust with nursing home care,” shout four billboards placed recently around Indianapolis by a union that wants to warn people about problems like chronic understaffing at Harborside Healthcare nursing homes. Nonsense, counter Boston-based Harborside managers. They claim the union is using isolated events to “extort” more pay and benefits from Harborside and expand union membership. Either way, Indianapolis appears to be the…

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