Community Health Network has spent three years developing a computer interface that allows doctors and nurses to view all
information and records on a patient in one viewing program.
The bill in question seems like a long shot. It would abdicate government’s responsibility for protecting citizens’ health
and safety, and place it in the hands of individual business owners.
Physicians and insurance companies have entered their fourth year of haggling over insurance payments, and each side is claiming
to best represent patients.
The Indiana General Assembly should pass a bill into law that bans smoking in public places.
Marion County hospital systems anticipate more mergers, possibly with each other.
Consumer-driven health plans will lead to greater medical expenses later because people avoid going to the doctor now.
Because major employers in Shelby County have laid off workers, Major Hospital isn’t getting as much income from employer-based
medical insurance plans.
Health care benefits that promote wellness should be an ongoing executive suite focus, not simply an annual budget concern.
The St. Francis hospital system and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana are haggling over insurance reimbursement
costs. The original demand of Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Inc. would have increased reimbursement amounts $80 million
over three years, Rick Rhodes, an Anthem regional vice president, wrote in an Oct. 30 letter to employers covered by Anthem.
The increase would mean $12 million more in out-of-pocket costs to Anthem customers. But St. Francis claims its request for
an increase only brings it in line with what other hospitals are getting.
Indiana’s economic woes are long standing and may be having an adverse effect on the health of our people,
because Hoosiers can’t consistently gain access to excellent health care.
Consumer-directed health plans really work, at least according to WellPoint Inc., which has made a big push to sell them recently.
Four years after its launch, the Indiana Health Information Exchange is laying the groundwork to take its game outside state
borders. The Indianapolis-based not-for-profit offers a service that provides patient records and test results via computer
to hospitals and doctors around central Indiana. But now, its leaders think they can take their expertise to other cities
and help them develop their own health information exchanges.
Spending on health care is rising faster in Indiana than it is across the country. Yet the state’s job and income growth continue
to lag national norms.
Bob Brody, CEO of St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers, is spearheading an emerging group of central Indiana health reformers
who want to start a bottom-up process to develop alternative solutions to the state’s–and possibly the nation’s–health care
crisis.
In the last three years, Indianapolis hospitals have seen a substantial run-up in the amount of charity care they give to patients who can’t pay. The cost of care is rising, more people are uninsured, and government officials are scrutinizing not-for-profit hospitals to make sure they give enough charity care to merit their tax-exempt status.
Clarian Health Partners will start posting prices for care on its Web site early next year, a move aimed at advancing the national movement toward greater transparency in health care costs.
