Vizient completes acquisition of MedAssets’ SCM and Sg2 businesses
Vizient Inc (Irving, TX) completed the acquisition of MedAssets’ (Alpharetta, GA) Spend and Clinical Resource Management (SCM) segment, including Sg2, from Pamplona Capital Management LP (New York, NY). The combined organization will deliver increased scale in intelligence, data assets and purchasing to address supply, clinical and operational improvements, according to a release. The announcement builds on the 2015 decision to bring VHA, UHC, and Novation together to form Vizient, the nation’s largest member-owned healthcare company. Vizient plans to bring the MedAssets’ SCM business under the Vizient brand identity by the end of 2016. There are no immediate plans to rebrand Sg2.
Children’s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University opens new Children’s Pavilion
Children’s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) (Richmond, VA) recently celebrated the opening of its new Children’s Pavilion. The pavilion opens to children and families March 21, 2016. It includes a surgery level, three levels of pediatric clinics, a faculty/research floor, and seven levels of parking. It consolidates pediatric outpatient services under one roof including radiology, same-day surgery, lab testing, dialysis, infusions, and more. Many services that were previously provided in adult areas of the hospital such as orthopedics, radiology, and neurosurgery will now be provided in pediatric-only spaces. Multidisciplinary clinics previously housed on the Brook Road Campus also will relocate to the space.
InTouch Health, Kainos form strategic partnership for next-gen telehealth solutions
InTouch Health (Santa Barbara CA) and Kainos Group plc (London, UK) formed a partnership to develop a suite of telehealth offerings. The InTouch Telehealth Network connects more than 1,500 hospital locations globally and over 4,500 physician specialists enabling urgent teleheath care. The InTouch Telehealth Network manages connections for telemental health, ICU, post-acute care, telepediatrics and over 30 other clinical specialties. InTouch Health plans to transform healthcare delivery by using Kainos Evolve’s integrated care platform to power its next generation telehealth patient-management solutions to improve patient outcomes at lower costs. Using the Evolve platform allows InTouch Health to deliver customizable patient-centric applications that can be integrated with hospital EHRs. These applications can be modified or extended to accommodate the requirements of individual healthcare organizations using the platform’s eForms and workflow tools.
Georgia hospitals worth $43.6 billion to economy
Hospitals in the state of Georgia collectively contributed $43.6 billion to the state’s economy in 2014, according to a study by the Georgia Hospital Association. Hospitals also provided more than 100,000 direct full- and part-time jobs and indirectly created more than 364,000 full-time jobs. However, Georgia’s hospitals aren’t immune to the financial challenges faced by health systems across the country. Since the beginning of 2013, five have closed, and many rural hospitals continue to suffer. According to a 2013 Georgia Department of Community Health survey, 57 percent of rural hospitals had negative total margins and four out of 10 total hospitals lost money that year. Uncompensated and indigent care is another source of strain for Georgia’s hospitals, which provided $1.75 billion in unpaid care in 2014, a 9.4 percent increase since 2012. About 17.5 percent of Georgians remain uninsured, according to a study by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Only two states, Texas and Oklahoma, have higher uninsured populations.
Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation, AmeriCares launch health coach program for uninsured
Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation (Ridgefield, CT,) and AmeriCares (Stamford, CT) announced a new Health Coach Program at the Boehringer Ingelheim AmeriCares Free Clinic (Danbury, CT) for uninsured patients with chronic disease. The primary role of the AmeriCares health coaches is to equip patients who are committed to improve their health with the knowledge, skills and confidence to better manage high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. Health coaching includes one-on-one interactions with patients to ensure they have the information they need and understand what they need to do to be successful. The health coaches will also help to increase overall productivity at the clinic, freeing up providers’ time to treat more uninsured patients.
Allegiance Health, Henry Ford sign definitive merger agreement
The boards of trustees approved a definitive agreement for Allegiance Health (Jackson, MI) to join Henry Ford Health System (Detroit, MI). Following the final regulatory approvals and the closing process, Allegiance will be part of Henry Ford by April 1, 2016. Allegiance in November 2015 announced it had signed a letter of intent to join Henry Ford. Once the process is complete, Allegiance physicians, executives and community members, together with Henry Ford leaders, will continue to represent local interests on the board of trustees, governance committees, and other leadership roles. Allegiance was not anticipating closures or planning on job losses as a result of the conglomeration. The affiliation will enable Allegiance to expand its services and build clinical capacity, as well as improve facilities and technology.
Trinity Health announces plans to build self-distribution center with XPO Logistics
Trinity Health (Livonia, MI) and XPO Logistics Inc (Greenwich, CT) announced plans to build the first of four state-of-the-art Trinity Health supply distribution centers in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The multistate hospital system will use the new centers to help transform its operations to better align with its mission to build a people-centered health system focused on improving health and reducing costs for the people and communities it serves. The project is expected to create 75 jobs in Indiana. XPO Logistics will manage and operate the new, $26 million facility. The Fort Wayne logistics hub will provide access to the Great Lakes/Midwest region and beyond and represent the single entry point for all manufacturers and suppliers serving Trinity Health. As additional strategic satellite warehouses are brought online over the next five years, Fort Wayne will serve as the central restock and inventory-fulfillment site for those locations as well. Conlan Construction will serve as the general contractor. Construction of the facility is expected to take about a year with initial site preparation expected to begin in Q1 2016.
Memorial Hermann Health System names Dr. Benjamin Chu as new president, CEO
Memorial Hermann Health System (Houston, TX) named Dr. Benjamin Chu as president and CEO, effective June 2016. Chu currently serves as EVP of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plans (Oakland, CA) and serves as group president of Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California and Georgia regions. Chu will succeed current president and CEO Dan Wolterman, who is retiring after holding the position since 2002. Wolterman will officially step down August 1, 2016 and will assist Chu in the transition.