First US Born, Test-Tube Baby Returns To the Jones Institute

The Eastern Virginia Medical School based in Norfolk, VA, has helped 2,500 couples give birth to test-tube babies, but Elizabeth Carr remains the prototype. Carr, now a 19-year-old freshman at Simmons College in Boston, was the nation's first test-tube baby, born at EVMS in Norfolk. On Friday, she returned to Virginia to help EVMS' Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine open a new fertility clinic in Fairfax.

       Much has changed in reproductive medicine since Carr's birth in 1981, and what was considered controversial then is almost routine now. "My technology seems almost rudimentary now," Carr said.

       The basic procedure used back then is still the same -- a woman's egg is fertilized outside the womb, then implanted inside her uterus. However, better fertility drugs allow doctors to harvest more eggs. And a single sperm can be injected into an egg to fertilize it, rather than making the sperm work its way into the egg. In addition, there has been a dramatic effect to help men with horrible sperm counts, super purified air and other advances within the research arena.

       But the success rate of about 10 percent in the early 1980s now stands at about 50 percent, said William Gibbons, MD, the Mason Andrews Chairman of the Department of OB/GYN at EVMS. Gibbons previously worked at the University of Southern California, where he was on the team that delivered the nation's second test-tube baby. "We were beaten by five months. No one remembers who's second," Gibbons joked. Back to TOC.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Subsidiary and Humana Form Joint Venture

Navigy, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, and Humana Inc. announced a joint business venture to create, operate and market an internet connectivity solution for physicians and other health care providers in Florida. The joint venture will use Internet technology to provide physicians and other health care providers with a secure, confidential and easy-to-use way to transact business with health care plans.

       The key benefit of the venture is its large-scale scope, providing far greater ease of use for millions of Florida consumers. Each year BCBSF and Humana process millions of transactions in servicing their members. These transactions can be done more quickly, accurately and efficiently through the new venture.

       The Web portal is expected to be available to physician offices later this year. While the venture is currently between Navigy and Humana, and other health plans are expected to join the effort in the near future.

       Navigy, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, is the strategic catalyst for Web-centric solutions and internal venture capital arm of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, focusing on the evolving health industry and capitalizing the assets of the parent enterprise. Navigy identifies market trends and creates innovative solutions to make new opportunities a reality through internal development and collaboration with successful entities maintaining expertise in the e-industry. Back to TOC.

drkoop.com (Still Breathing) Announces Exclusive Partnership With Acurian

drkoop.com Inc. (Nasdaq:KOOP -- news), a leading Internet Health and Wellness Network and Acurian Inc., the leader in clinical study launch acceleration, has announced an exclusive partnership to educate drkoop's vast community of users and to provide them with increased access and ability to participate in clinical trials. The clinical trial recruitment will be adding revenue streams.

       "This alliance gives drkoop's loyal audience an opportunity to access Acurian's up-to-date information about new medical therapies, drugs in development and clinical trials seeking patients to participate," said Richard Rosenblatt, CEO of drkoop.com. "At the same time, it allows Acurian to tap into a pre-qualified population that already has expressed interest in a specific disease."

       "Acurian is committed to the highest level of customer service and data privacy," added Michelson. "We are very sensitive to the high level of confidentiality and discretion required when dealing with patient health information, and have adopted a strict privacy and data use policy to ensure the maximum protection and benefit to our users. We feel that our privacy track record is one of our strongest selling points." Back to TOC.

LifePoint Hospitals to Issue 3.3 Million Shares

LifePoint Hospitals Inc., which operates 21 hospitals in seven states, said on Friday it had filed with U.S. regulators for a public offering of 3.3 million shares of its common stock. Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse First Boston are the co-lead underwriters for the offering, LifePoint said in a statement.

Magellan Behavioral Health Wins Federal Contract to Provide EAP

       Magellan Behavioral Health announced today that it has been awarded a contract to provide employee assistance program (EAP) services to approximately 345,000 federal employees nationwide. The contract, which is the largest awarded to date for the company's workplace division, took effect January 1, 2001, and is for a term of one year with four option years.

       The program provides assessment, referral and short-term counseling services to help employees deal with problems affecting personal and work life such as marital, legal or career issues. The program is managed out of a designated specialty in call center operating in Magellan's St. Louis national service center.

       The contract was awarded by Federal Occupational Health (FOH), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services. FOH has provided a comprehensive menu of occupational health programs for federal employees for more than 50 years.

       Magellan Behavioral Health is a leader in behavioral health, EAPs, and human services, serving individuals across the United States. The company specializes in managed mental health and substance abuse services as well as employee assistance/work-life programs, and serves over 3,000 client organizations representing health plans, government agencies, unions, and corporations. Back to TOC.

The U.S. Justice Department Joins Suit Against Tenet Healthcare Corp

The Justice Department has joined a private action against Tenet Healthcare Corp. that has accused it of paying "above fair market" salaries to physicians to induce them to refer patients to a Tenet hospital in Florida.

       The suit was originally filed under seal in federal court in Miami in May 1997 by a former Tenet employee, Sal A. Barbera. Tenet disclosed in 1998 the existence of a federal investigation into financial arrangements between its North Ridge Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and a group of physicians employed by Tenet there.

       The case is apparently focused "on a small number of physicians at one hospital and it's clearly not a material financial issue for Tenet even if the government were to prevail, which it won't", according to a spokeswoman. She said the physician contracts under scrutiny were "commercially reasonable" at the time they were negotiated.

       Mr. Barbera's suit was unsealed last week. The suit contends that beginning in 1993 the North Ridge Medical Center violated a statute that prohibits a physician from referring Medicare patients for hospitalization and related services to an entity with which the doctor has a financial relationship.

       Under the statute, the Medicare program should recover all of the revenue received by the North Ridge hospital that resulted from referrals from physicians who were paid "in excess of fair-market value," the government said. The allegations involve North Ridge employment contracts with about 15 physicians between 1993 and 1997. The Justice Department said it also intends to pursue allegations against Tenet involving false cost-report claims at the North Ridge hospital. However, the government didn't join Mr. Barbara's allegation that physicians employed by the hospital "upcoded" claims for reimbursement from federal health-care programs. Upcoding is billing for a more highly reimbursed service or product than the one provided.

       Mr. Barbera's suit was filed under the U.S. False Claims Act, which allows private individuals to file lawsuits that charge defendants with cheating the government. Under the act, the plaintiff receives a portion of any financial recoveries obtained through the litigation.

       Tenet, based in Santa Barbara, Calif., said the government action concerns events that occurred before 1995 when Tenet acquired American Medical International, the former parent of North Ridge Medical Center. Tenet, formerly National Medical Enterprises, has held itself out as a model of ethical practices since 1994 when it paid $380 million to settle a mass of federal and state fraud investigations. Back to TOC.
 

In This Issue--Also See Archive

1st Test Tube Baby Comes Home
Blue Cross & Humana Joint Venture
drkoop.com Sets Partnership
LifePoint Hospitals IP
Magellan Wins Federal Contract
Justice Dept. Joins Suit against Tenet
Universal Buys McAllen Heart
Oncology Adopts Net Earnings Model
Sentara Named Nations Top Network
West Va. Academic Group Settles Suit
Triad Waits IRS OK for Quorum Buyout

Universal Health Services, Inc. to Purchase McAllen Heart Hospital

Universal Health Services, Inc. has announced an agreement to purchase the assets of the McAllen Heart Hospital, a 60-bed specialty heart hospital in McAllen, Texas. UHS currently operates the 490-bed McAllen Medical Center and the nearby 169-bed Edinburg Regional Medical Center. UHS is purchasing the assets of the McAllen Heart Hospital from a physician partnership formed by MedCath Incorporated, a privately held company in Charlotte, North Carolina. UHS intends to combine the operations of McAllen Heart Hospital with its existing hospital operations. There will be no physician ownership upon completion of the purchase. Completion of the purchase is expected in March 2001 and is subject to normal regulatory and licensing approvals.

       Universal Health Services, Inc. is a management company and operates facilities nationwide including medical, surgical and behavioral health hospitals and ambulatory surgery and radiation therapy. Back to TOC.

US Oncology Practices Convert to Net Earnings Model

US Oncology, Inc. has renegotiated affiliation agreements with two major oncology practices, Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers, Denver, Colorado, and Kansas City Oncology and Hematology Group, Kansas City, Missouri. With these agreements, over 50% of US Oncology's net revenue will come from affiliated practices operating under "net earnings" agreements. The remaining affiliated practices operate under agreements based on a "percentage of net revenue." Under the "net earnings" model, US Oncology and affiliated practices participate proportionally in practice revenue and operating costs. The Company expects the alignment of interests through the model conversion will result in a more predictable financial performance, allowing US Oncology to continue to provide capital and management resources to the local cancer community.

       US Oncology is a provider of integrated cancer care in the United States. The US Oncology network operates in 26 states with over 850 affiliated physicians in 450 locations, including 72 integrated cancer centers. Back to TOC.

Sentara Healthcare Named Nation's Top Integrated Health Care Network

Norfolk, VA based Sentara Healthcare was ranked tops in the nation by SMG Marketing Group, a Chicago-based healthcare and information marketing company. SMG looked at Sentara’s level of integration and its ability to offer a full spectrum of services.

       "We strive to provide the residents of our communities with a seamless health care organization, and to be recognized for our work is truly an honor," said David Bernd, CEO of Sentara Healthcare. Bernd says with an integrated health care system patients should move easily through the system, services should be more timely, and communication amongst care providers should be better.

       "An integrated system makes it easier for patients to receive the care they need," Bernd said. "It's a win-win for patients when their physicians, hospitals, and health plan are all working together to improve the quality of their care."

       Sentara is one of only three health care systems in the nation to be in the Top 10 for four straight years. Sentara was ranked 6th in the nation in 2000. SMG ranked the Top 100 Integrated Health Systems, out of more than 532 nonspecialty regional integrated health systems nationwide.

       Sentara Healthcare operates more than 70 care giving sites; including six hospitals, three outpatient health care campuses and 7 nursing centers.

       In determining the Top 100 Integrated Health Systems, SMG Marketing Group looks at distinct categorical performance in each integrated healthcare network, including services and access, hospital utilization, physicians, integration, financial stability, outpatient utilization, and contracts.

       In compiling its Top 100 rankings, SMG Marketing determined that 95 percent of the integrated health systems are not-for-profit and have a physician network that is 58 percent larger than the average integrated systems. Back to TOC.

West Virginia Academic Group Settles Fraud Case

West Virginia University’s faculty physicians group will pay the federal government $307,950 to settle allegations of fraudulent billing. From 1995 to 1997, West Virginia University Medical Corp. and 401-bed West Virginia University Hospitals, Morgantown, allegedly billed for services as if faculty physicians were present at the time of delivery, when medical residents administered the treatments unsupervised. While similarities exist between the PATH investigation at many prominent medical schools throughout the US, this case was not part of the joint Justice Department-HHS Physicians at Teaching Hospitals probe. The physician group settled without admitting wrongdoing. Back to TOC.

Triad Hospitals Waiting OK From IRS For Ouorum Health Purchase

Triad Hospitals could receive approval "any day now" from the Internal Revenue Service for its pending $2.4 billion purchase of Quorum Health Group and is likely to complete the deal in April, Triad Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James Shelton said last week.

       If Triad wants to complete a major transaction within two years of its May 1999 spin-off from HCA-The Healthcare Co., it must get a green light from the IRS because of the tax-free nature of the separation from its former parent. Triad already has cleared another regulatory hurdle, having received no antitrust challenges from the federal government.

       Dallas-based Triad first announced the acquisition of Quorum last October and said it hoped to complete the deal by the end of March. But the pending sales of some of Quorum's 21 owned hospitals and its entire management business are taking longer than Triad executives originally had anticipated.

       In the past, he has indicated that the company wants to sell about six hospitals as well as Quorum's hospital management business, Quorum Health Resources. He also has left open the door to sell some Triad facilities. Triad currently owns or leases 27 hospital

       Triad reported a net loss of $3.7 million, or 11 cents per share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2000, compared with a loss of $52.1 million, or $1.68 per share, in the 1999 quarter. Those figures included "unusual items" such as $1 million in revenue and a charge of $7.1 million resulting from the closure of Triad's Mission Bay Hospital in San Diego. Revenue rose 6.7% to $320.1 million from $300.1 million. For the year, Triad reported net income of $4.4 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $95.6 million, or $3.12 per share in the prior year. Revenue dropped 7.7% to $1.2 billion in 2000 from $1.3 billion in 1999. Back to TOC.