IU Health buying docs in hospital ventures
Indiana University Health is now quietly unwinding the physician ownership of its hospitals in Carmel and Avon—which sparked loud controversy when they opened in 2004 and 2005.
Health Care Reform
Articles
Health insurers lose push to ease rate review
U.S. insurers led by WellPoint Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc. failed to get federal regulators to change a rule in the 2010 health-care overhaul that triggers a review of any premium increases exceeding 10 percent.
Franciscan Alliance takes control of VNS home health agency
Visiting Nurse Service Inc., a 200-employee agency based in Indianapolis, will operate under the umbrella of Franciscan St. Francis Health, the organizations announced Thursday.
VCs: Health benefits will be defined contribution
Increasing government involvement in the health insurance market will have the counter-intuitive effect of making the industry more consumer-driven, concludes a new report from a health care venture-capital firm.
Health care providers opening to technology
Some health care system are finally allowing online scheduling.
MANTOOTH: Companies bogged down by employees’ poor health
The problem is, too many people make unhealthy choices and the consequences of these choices become everyone’s problem.
Reform could create more ’boutique’ doctors
Health reform could accelerate trend toward two tiers of care, with concierge services like Dr. Matt Priddy offers at the top and long waits and minimal attention at the bottom.
Economist: Expect boom in medical offices
Demand for medical office buildings is set to grow twice as fast as it was expected to in the next decade, thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Anthem: Global payments coming back
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s vision for accountable care organizations foresees doctors and hospitals shifting to global capitation payments and employers getting bigger discounts if they allow their workers access only to health care providers in a specific organization.
Medicare rules hammer hospitals, docs
Being an accountable care organization will be the major leagues of health care after the federal Medicare program set a high bar for the new kind of doctor-hospital organization.
Q&A
Susan Rider is an employee-benefits account manager at Indianapolis-based Gregory & Appel Insurance. On July 1, she will become president of the Indiana State Association of Health Underwriters. She spoke about the first-year impact of the 2010 health reform law and further changes to come.
WellPoint gets vote of confidence
Health reform will make health insurance a less-profitable business, but WellPoint Inc. got a vote of confidence from bond analysts because health-reform rules have turned out milder than expected and WellPoint’s financial performance has been particularly strong as the economy recovers.
Health insurers diversify away from regulations
One year after President Obama signed the health reform overhaul, health insurers are buying less-regulated companies in a bid to offset the lower profits and growth they expect the law to cause.
Self-funded plans draw small-firm interest
In the face of new health reform restrictions, expect more small employers to opt for self-funded health benefits, concludes a report this week from Indianapolis-based United Benefit Advisors.
RATHKE: My saga of staying up to date on health care reform
Human resources used to be about payroll and benefits. Now it’s also about watching Congress.
Hospital systems adopt Starbucks-style service
Indiana University Health is the latest system to drill employees ranging from clerks to physicians in how to treat patients.
Community wins sweepstakes for Johnson partnership
Community Health Network won a three-way race for a close partnership with Johnson Memorial Hospital, besting Franciscan St. Francis and Indiana University Health.
WellPoint expects employer biz to stagnate
Over the next five years, WellPoint Inc. expects the employer-sponsored insurance business to shrink slightly, forcing it to shift its focus to government-sponsored plans.
Fort Wayne firm to open health info to patients
With electronic medical record systems proliferating, there’s information galore about patients. But it’s not so easy for patients to get at it. Now Fort Wayne-based NoMoreClipboard has been charged to design ways to fix that problem.
Medicaid expansion could tax community health centers
The president of the Indiana Primary Health Care Association wants to double the number of federally qualified community health centers in Indiana in the next five years.