Hospitals may be near saturation point on physician hiring
Over the last three years, all major hospitals in Indianapolis have been active in hiring physicians. Competition was especially intense for cardiologists.
Over the last three years, all major hospitals in Indianapolis have been active in hiring physicians. Competition was especially intense for cardiologists.
The hospital paid $31,500 to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by a patient who claimed St. Vincent used a debt collector that was not licensed in Indiana.
It was a good but not great year financially for three of the four largest hospital systems operating in the Indianapolis area last year—and hospital analysts are expecting several head winds to continue.
St. Vincent Health CEO Vince Caponi will take charge of three hospitals in Wisconsin that are also owned by St. Vincent’s parent organization, Ascension Health. He’ll also keep his current job.
Indianapolis-area hospitals spent billions on construction in the past decade and increasingly tried to poach patients from one another’s territories. Yet last year—one of the worst economically in recent history—21 of 26 hospitals still were able to show operating profits.
St. Vincent Health is moving aggressively to expand its transplant program in a direct challenge to Clarian Health’s dominance
in the field. The Indianapolis-based hospital system filed in July for permission to conduct pancreas transplants. And down
the road, it’s eyeing liver and maybe even lung transplants.
Monroe Hospital in Bloomington is the latest target in the statewide buildup by hospital systems. St. Vincent Health, St.
Francis and at least one other system have all had talks in the past month with Monroe.
The scramble by local hospitals to form their physicians and facilities into “clinically integrated” networks
that can do business with employers and health insurers has another huge motivating factor: Beginning January 2012, they can
also do business with Medicare, the massive federal program for seniors.
Clarian Health is launching its own health insurance plan, the boldest of several initiatives at Indianapolis hospitals to
bypass health insurers and provide health benefits directly to employers.
Unemployment in Indiana has moderated slightly, but more than 313,000 Hoosiers remain out of work. And with attempts to extend
benefits for the jobless stalled in Congress, it’s likely more people will struggle to pay medical bills.
A deal in which St. Vincent Health would buy or lease Bedford’s Dunn Memorial Hospital is in the final stages, according
to the Times-Mail of Bedford. The hospital board held two hours of closed-door talks on May 26, and one board member
predicted a decision within days.
Ivy Tech Community College is set to start new construction at a former hospital site next to its downtown Indianapolis campus.
St. Vincent Health is near an agreement to take over The Care Group LLC, the city’s largest independent physician practice
and largest cardiology group in the nation.
St. Vincent Health’s agreement to lease the county hospital in Salem for five years is the latest in a string of deals
by Indianapolis hospital systems seeking a statewide presence.
The Indiana Osteopathic Association passed over a virtually certain $75 million in startup funding from Indiana Wesleyan University
to choose Marian University for its new osteopathic college.
The St. Vincent Health hospital system has joined with Indianapolis-based Novia CareClinics LLC to set up clinics on employers’
campuses, offering health care for their workers with no insurance companies involved.
The specter of declining reimbursement, as well as the desire for statewide growth, lie behind St. Vincent Health’s decision
to form a physician management firm with OrthoIndy and buy a minority stake in its Indiana Orthopaedic Hospital.
St. Vincent Health has acquired a minority interest in Indiana Orthopaedic Hospital and is in discussions with OrthoIndy physicians
and other independent doctors to create a management company that would oversee orthopaedic and spine services at St. Vincent
Indianapolis. The health care providers announced the deal early Friday.
As health care legislation
continues to wend its way through Congress, Indianapolis-area industry leaders still harbor strong
opinions about the issue. Five industry insiders discussed how to improve the health care system during
IBJ’s Power Breakfast Sept. 25 at the Westin Indianapolis.
Presenting five video excerpts from a free-wheeling panel discussion about health-care reform featuring five of the city’s
top minds and decision-makers. Reporter J.K. Wall moderates the IBJ’s Power Breakfast on Sept. 25, covering tort reform,illegal
immigrants, pay models and the role of insurance companies.