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 Wednesday, September 23, 2009 |
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Indianapolis scores a 'C' on Obama's cost test
President Obama wants the authority to take an ax to "wasteful" spending by hospitals and doctors across the country. But the tool the Obama administration is using to measure waste shows that Indianapolis might be low enough not to get whacked. Of course, it's not likely to get much praise, either. Obama's budget director, Peter Orzag, cites the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, which shows that the federal Medicare program spends wildly different amounts across the country for doctors and hospital systems to care for patients in the last two years of their lives. "The costs associated with that should not vary significantly across different hospitals," said Indianapolis hospital accountant Ed Abel. 
Clarian CEO pining for public option
Most business groups cheered when Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) introduced a health reform bill with no public option, a new government-run insurance plan for working adults. But there's a big group that would like to see it back on the table-hospitals. That includes Clarian Health CEO Dan Evans. "To the extent the Baucus legislation doesn't insure everybody, there's going to be a shortfall between who's covered and who isn't," he told Fox Business in an interview Monday. "So a public option might actually be a good thing for the hospital industry."
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Company news
Even though Eli Lilly and Co. executives admit the era of the blockbuster is over in the world of pharmaceuticals, they're still swinging for one last home run: a new medicine for Alzheimer's. And it's no wonder why. New data released by Alzheimer's Disease International show that incidence of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia is exploding around the globe, even faster than previously thought. By next year more than 35 million people will suffer from dementia, 10-percent higher than predicted in 2005. The total will double every 20 years, reaching 115 million by 2050. Lilly has two drugs in late-stage testing, which it hopes will be the first medicines to reverse the progress of Alzheimer's. Lilly is counting on them to reverse its prospects.
The recession hasn't been kind to West Lafayette-based Bioanalytical Systems Inc. Its shares have lost 80 percent of their value in the last year. And now the NASDAQ Stock Market is threatening to delist the shares because of the company's low market capitalization. Bioanalytical shares are listed on NASDAQ's Global Market. The company plans to shift its listing to a NASDAQ exchange called the Capital Market, which has a lower market-cap threshold. However, Bioanalytical still needs to get its share price above $1 by March 15 or it will be ineligible for any NASDAQ listing.
International Medical Group Inc., an Indianapolis-based insurer of ex-pats and world travelers, will now offer its products in Vietnam. The company signed a sales agreement with AAA Assurance Corp. of Vietnam to offer medical insurance and a concierge and financial assistance product. International Medical Group provides those and other products in 170 countries.
Indianapolis-based health insurer WellPoint Inc. is considering another round of job cuts as it looks for ways to trim costs. WellPoint spokeswoman Kristin Binns said the company had no estimate for the number of potential cuts or when they could happen. WellPoint cut about 1,500 jobs earlier this year. The company has more than 40,000 employees, including about 5,000 in Indiana.
Mead Johnson will spend nearly $33 million to expand a baby formula plant in Evansville, adding 35 workers. The Illinois-based company-formerly a subsidiary of New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.-already employs 1,200 in Evansville. It makes Enfamil brand baby formula.
Saint John's Health System in Anderson and St. Vincent Health have partnered with Anderson University School of Nursing to create the Saint John's Center for Clinical Excellence. The nursing-education facility features the latest version of SimMan, a patient simulator with realistic anatomy and functions used in nurse training. The Saint John's Center for Clinical Excellence will also be used by Saint John's, Community Hospital Anderson and St. Vincent Mercy Hospital in Elwood for nursing education.
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St. Vincent Health 's Sports Performance unit announced new partnerships to be the official health care provider for the athletes of USA Track & Field and USA Diving. St. Vincent Sports Performance already has such a partnership with USA Gymnastics.
People
 Michael McMains has joined the Indianapolis law firm of Plews Shadley Racher & Braun. He specializes in pharmacy law and health business law.
Tim D. Leman will be named president of Gibson Insurance Group on Oct. 1, setting him up to be the firm's CEO within 12-15 months. Current CEO Greg Downes will stay in that position until the transition and then remain as chairman. Gibson Insurance is a benefits brokerage in northern Indiana that also has an office in Indianapolis. |
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 Indianapolis-based NICO Corp. named Niles Noblitt and Carter McNabb to its board of directors. Noblitt co-founded Warsaw-based Biomet Inc. and served as its chairman until 2007. McNabb is managing director of Cincinnati-based River Cities Capital Funds and a longtime health care investor.
Medical equipment supplier Hill-Rom Holdings Inc. is looking for a new CEO after current chief Peter Soderberg confirmed his plans to retire in April 2011, at age 65. Soderberg made those plans when he joined the Batesville-based company in 2006. Soderberg will remain president and CEO until a successor is named, which is anticipated to occur next year.
 Clarian Health gave a higher title to its vice president of human resources, Sheriee Ladd, in addition to asking her to integrate human resources functions of the more than 20 organizations that are partners in the Indianapolis-based hospital system. Ladd is now senior vice president of human resources.
The Indiana Primary Health Care Association named Phil Morphew as its CEO. Morphew led Indianapolis-based Health Care Excel Inc., a consultant to health care providers, from 1980 to 2001. Since then, he has done social work in Zimbabwe.
 Community Health Network has named Dr. Dale Theobald chairman of its institutional review board. Theobald is a psychiatrist, specializing in addictions, hospice care and palliative medicine.
David Ricks will become president of Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co.'s U.S. business on Nov. 1, replacing Enrique Conterno, who was named chief of Lilly's newly formed diabetes business unit. Ricks is currently general manager of Lilly's China subsidiary. Ricks will be replaced in China by Eric Baclet, Lilly's vice president of marketing for neuroscience products.
Compiled by J.K. Wall, jwall@ibj.com or on Twitter @Ibjhealthcare
Edited by Norm Heikens
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