Med school students share their stories
Five students at Indiana University School of Medicine contemplate whether to opt for family practice or a specialty.
Health Care & Insurance
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Indiana medical students opt for specialties, not family practice
Interest in primary care has fallen off markedly due partly to relatively low pay.
Study: Indianapolis high-priced hospital market
Indianapolis-area hospitals have negotiated reimbursement rates with private health insurers that are two and three times higher than those paid by the federal Medicare program, suggesting the hospitals have the upper hand over insurers, according to a new study.
Health insurance stocks rise after spending rules outlined
U.S. health insurers, including WellPoint Inc., can include the cost of federal taxes in determining whether they spend enough on patient care, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department said Tuesday.
Clarian grows market share to 40 percent
Clarian Health has been growing faster than its peers in the Indianapolis market the past five years and is now generating healthy margins, according to a report this month by Moody’s Investors Service.
St. Francis hospitals getting Franciscan Alliance name
The Mishawaka-based health system’s move comes after months of consumer research—and six months after rival system Clarian Health said it would change its name to Indiana University Health.
State joins push to protect elderly from financial scams
Indiana doctors may soon check on patients’ financial health as part of a program that teaches health care providers how to spot victims of swindlers.
Community, Westview hospitals in ‘strategic alliance’ talks
The form an alliance would take is not clear, but Westview looked for additional resources from city’s four major hospital systems.
Medical device maker expanding in Fort Wayne
L.H. Medical Corp. said it plans to create up to 65 jobs by 2013 and invest $5.4 million to more than triple the size of its manufacturing operations.
Anthem, critics face off over rate-hike request
Anthem, a subsidiary of Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc., is seeking a 19.9-percent raise for 48,000 individual policy holders in Connecticut, citing escalating health care costs.
Q&A
Les Zwirn, executive director of Better Healthcare for Indiana, talked about his group’s progress on promoting community collaborations to improve health and reduce the cost of care in cities around Indiana. BHI is hosting its third health care summit of Indiana community leaders today at Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis.
IU dance marathon raises $1.6M for hospital
A 36-hour dance marathon raised about $1.6 million for Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis over the weekend.
Drugmakers seek Republican allies to defeat cost-cutting panel
Pharmaceutical firms led by Eli Lilly are trying to eliminate a government panel aimed at controlling Medicare spending seven months after they supported the health-care overhaul that created it.
Audit: Indiana owes feds $39M for Medicaid
A federal audit recommends that Indiana's human services agency refund the federal government nearly $39 million it overpaid to Medicaid providers during a nine-year period.
Nurse practitioners get some autonomy
Could nurse practitioners get a promotion in the medical field? At least one health insurer is treating them like doctors now.
Acquisition big step for Lilly Diagnostics
Eli Lilly and Co.’s $800 million acquisition of Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc. is the biggest step yet in the drugmaker’s attempt to add diagnostics to its product portfolio.
Study: Substance abuse treatment costly for state
A study at the Center for Health Policy at IUPUI found that 66 cents of every dollar the state spends on services related to substance abuse goes toward health care while only 1 cent goes toward prevention or intervention.
Lilly makes $300M deal for Philadelphia drug company
Eli Lilly said it will acquire Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, maker of an experimental agent that could help identify patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The price could climb to $800 million if the agent is commercially successful.
Lilly wins approval of antidepressant Cymbalta for pain
The Food and Drug Administration has cleared Cymbalta for musculoskeletal pain such as arthritis and chronic lower back conditions, which could mean another $500 million in annual sales for Lilly, an analyst estimates.
Drama builds in suit over Hilbert mother-in-law’s life policy
Businessman J.B. Carlson is in debt for $5.9 million, and he may have been the last person to see 74-year-old Suzy Tomlinson alive. Her $15 million life-insurance policy named him as the beneficiary.