Informed on reform
The Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council has launched an online public information campaign to inform businesses, owners and other health care consumers about the Affordable Care Act and federal health care reform measures.
Called “The ABCs of Health Care Reform and You,” the program offers information on health care access, benefits and costs to a variety of the American population, including uninsured, young adults, the elderly and disabled, chronic disease sufferers, children and adults under 65.
“It is important to us to help not only our hospital members, but the general public gain a relatable understanding of the law as it affects them now and in the near future,” said Wendy Darwell, the Long Island hospital council”™s chief operating officer. “Health care is very much on the minds of everyone. A better understanding of the ACA leads to more informed health care decisions.”
As part of the Suburban Hospital Alliance of New York State, the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council has joined with the Northern Metropolitan Hospital Association, representing hospitals in the Hudson Valley region, to advocate at the state and federal level on issues affecting their member institutions.
Links to animated videos, research reports and other materials can be accessed from the council web site at www.nshc.org. Information will be updated as parts of the law go into effect.
Visitors to the site are encouraged to spread the information by checking NSHC tweets (@hospitalcouncil) and then re-tweeting the information. The hospital council”™s Facebook page also carries information about the campaign.
Hearing and hiring
ENT and Allergy Associates L.L.P. (ENTA), a specialty physician group practice based in Tarrytown, has recruited 11 audiologists to its New York and New Jersey offices since last summer.
ENTA CEO Robert Glazer in a press release said the limited supply of audiologists “has historically been a bit of an obstacle” as the group practice has continued to expand its operations in the metropolitan area. “So last year we undertook a wide-ranging program to aggressively identify and contact as many audiologists as possible, and I”™m delighted to say it has borne fruit,” he said.
In Westchester County, audiologist Evmorfia Tzanis recently joined ENTA offices in Sleepy Hollow and Yorktown.
ENT and Allergy Associates has 36 offices and more than 125 physicians providing adult and pediatric care for ear, nose and throat and allergic disorders.
Health M&A up
Spending on health care acquisitions rose 11 percent last year, according to Irving Levin Associates Inc., which tracks the sector.
The Norwalk-based company tallied $227 billion in health care mergers in 2011 across 980 deals, the fourth highest dollar level of the past decade, and said the total could grow in the next few weeks as public companies disclose additional deals as they report their annual results.
Of 13 subsectors tracked by Irving Levin Associates, medical groups had the biggest increase in deal volume at 60 percent, while home health services companies saw the biggest contraction at 36 percent.
“Election-year wrangling will tend to lengthen the period of due diligence in deal making as buyers and sellers attempt to see which way the political winds are blowing,” Stephen Monroe, managing editor at Irving Levin Associates, said in a statement. “Deals in provider sectors dependent on government payments will be particularly vulnerable as changes to reimbursement protocols, real or threatened, are bandied about. Deal makers clearly prefer non-volatile markets.”
IMS buys PharmARC
IMS Health acquired PharmARC Analytic Solutions Pvt. Ltd., a Bangalore-based company specializing in varying business services for 15 of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies.
Based in Danbury and controlled by Texas-based TPG Capital, IMS Health provides a range of services to life-sciences companies, including data on drug sales used for competitive benchmarking.
Separately, IMS Health is selling off promotional and audit businesses it picked up in its 2011 acquisition of its Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based rival SDI Health, a conditional requirement for the deal. Burlington, Mass.-based inVentiv Health Inc. is buying the units.
SHU launches health IS degree
Sacred Heart University is starting a new graduate program in health care information systems starting next fall.
The Fairfield, Conn., school”™s program is tailored both for those with experience in the area as well as IT professionals looking to transition to the health care industry.
Stephen Burrows, a former information systems manager at New Milford Hospital, is director of the new program. Burrows holds a bachelor”™s degree from City University of New York and a doctorate from Barry University School of Podiatric Medicine.
