Payers & Providers California Edition – Issue of November 3, 2011

8/3/2019 Payers & Providers California Edition Issue of November 3, 2011

1/5

!"#$%&$'!()!*+,,!-!*+,,!&.!/0.$'1!2!/'"#34$'1!/5&6317389)!::;


2/5

!"#$%&$'!()!*+,,!-!*+,,!&.!/0.$'1!2!/'"#34$'1!/5&6317389)!::;

Payers & Providers Page 2

Top Placement...Bottomless Potential

Advertise Here

(877) 248-2360, ext. 2

In Brief

Kaiser Opens New$550M Hospital In

Ontario

Kaiser Permanente opened a state-of-

the-art hospital in Ontario onTuesday.

The $550 million facilityincludes all private rooms withsleeping areas for family membersand computer terminals forcaregivers, and furniture andcarpeting made from recycledmaterials.

This state-of-the-art facility isone of the largest, greenest, and mosttechnologically advanced ever builtin the area, and we are thrilled to beopening our doors, said GregChristian, Kaisers executive directorfor Ontario and Fontana. Thisinvestment symbolizes our

commitment to the health of allpeople who live and work in theInland Empire.

The facility is Kaisers 14thhospital in Southern California and31st statewide.

A replacement facility forKaisers current facility in Fontana isscheduled to open in 2013.

Sharp Healthcare,United Enter Into NewPact, Will Rebrand MA

Plan

The Sharp HealthCare hospitalsystem and UnitedHealthcare haveentered into a new ve-year pact thatincludes health plans rebranding ofone of its Medicare Advantagepolicies.

The Sharp SecureHorizons Planwill make Sharp the exclusiveprovider for the coverage, which

Continued on Page 3

NEWS

Nearly 1 million children in California areexposed or at risk to being exposed to second-hand cigarette smoke, according to a newstudy by UCLA researchers.

The data, compiled by the UCLA Centerfor Health Policy Research, is far less direthan its original estimates that 2.5 millionchildren statewide were exposed tosecondhand smoke when it was released latelast month. The center dramatically revised itsnumbers downward this week due to errors inpooling of data from the California HealthInterview Survey, which the center uses for itsresearch.

According to the new numbers, 224,000children are directly exposed to secondhandsmoke in the home. Another 742,000 had amember of the household who smoked butdid not do so in the home, placing the child atrisk for exposure.

Exposure to secondhand smoke can putchildren at risk for respiratory ailments such asasthma, or aggravate existing respiratoryissues. It can also elevate their risk ofcontracting cancer.

The state has the nations second-lowestrate of smokers, due in part to successes inimplementing steep tobacco taxes, laws thatprohibit smoking, and public healthcampaigns.

Lawmakers recently enacted a lawbanning smoking in a vehicle where a minoris present, but the UCLA study suggests thatmore steps must be taken.

"California's ght against tobacco hasbeen a major public health success story, butwe still need to spread awareness and ensurethat every family knows the dire consequencesof addiction, said Sue Holtby, the study's

lead author. "The next frontier in the campaagainst smoking is to reduce smoking athome."

Income, race and other socioeconomicfactors correlate strongly as to whether a chwill be exposed to smoke.

African-American households were neafour times as likely to have a child exposed second-hand smoke than Asian-Americanhouseholds, 12.6% compared to 3.2%.Among whites, the rate of exposure was 3.6and among Latinos, 2.2%.

Lower-income households were also famore likely to have children exposed tosmoke. The highest rate of children exposedsmoke was in homes with incomes between100% and 200% of the Federal Poverty Leve4.6%, with those households at or below thpoverty level had a slightly lower rate.

Those households with incomes above300% of the FPL had children exposed tosmoke at a 2.4% rate, nearly half the rate oftheir less afuent counterparts.

Geography also played a role, with thehighest rate of exposed children in more rurareas such as the San Joaquin Valley and theSierra Nevada region. Those areas rate ofexposure was nearly triple that of the CentraCoast, where only 1.6% of householdsexposed their children to secondhand smok

However, the far more densely populateLos Angeles region also had a high rate of kexposed to smoke: 4.1%. Thats despite thefact that fewer than 11% of adults andteenagers who live there actually smoke.

The study suggested that the introductioof anti-smoking campaigns in the regions wthe largest number of children and smokerscould reduce the exposure rates.

FOLLOW THE MONEYHealthcare and Political Finance in California

White Paper $149White Paper & Data $329

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Kids Have Secondhand Smoke RiskExposure Pegged to Some Socioeconomic Group
https://www.managedcarestore.com/pandp/p&pwhitepapers.htmhttps://www.managedcarestore.com/pandp/p&pwhitepapers.htm


3/5

!"#$%&$'!()!*+,,!-!*+,,!&.!/0.$'1!2!/'"#34$'1!/5&6317389)!::;

Page 3Payers & Providers

Longer ALOS!*

Advertise Here

(877) 248-2360, ext. 2

*For our ads, not your hospital

NEWS

In Brief

functions as a health maintenanceorganization. It will be the onlyMedicare Advantage plan offered byUnited in San Diego County withdrug coverage that does not charge amonthly premium.Through collaboration with such atrusted and highly regarded health

care system over the nextve years,were condent we can provide our

members with enhanced value andquality coverage, said MichaelMcCarthy, regional executive directorof UnitedHealthcare MedicareSolutions in Southern California.

El Centro Hospital UsesPatients Palms For

Check-Ins

El Centro Regional Medical Center

has begun using a new check-insystem for patients that scans the veinpatterns on their palms in order toverify their identity.

Known as PatientSecure, thesystem was developed by HT Systemsof Tampa, Fla. The use of palm veinpatterns for identication isconsidered about 100 times morereliable than ngerprinting, accordingto a statement issued by the hospital.It has had 50 such scanners in use atthe facility since Sept. 21.

Patients have the option ofhaving their palm vein patterns tied inwith their medical records. The intentof using such a system is to avoid

mixups and better preserve patientcondentiality by cutting down onthe amount of medical recordinformation that is exchangedverbally, according to hospitalofcials.

"It is worth noting that in manyhealthcare systems, oursincluded, it is common to havemultiple patients with the same rstand last name, and this system helpsprevent any misidentication," said ElCentro Chief Executive Ofcer DavidGreen.

Woodland Hills-based insurer Health Netreported third quarter earnings that were atfrom a year ago, while its membership growthis shifting away from California.

Health Net reported net income for thequarter ending Sept. 30 of $61.8 million onrevenue of $2.8 billion. That compares to netincome of $62.7 million on revenue of $3.4billion for the third quarter of 2010.

The decline in revenue was attributedmostly to the companys withdrawal from theNortheastern U.S. It took pretax writeoffs of$22.8 million in order to conclude thoseoperations and reduce administrative

expenses elsewhere.Total enrollment in California stood at2.27 million at the end of the quarter, upabout 1% from enrollment of 2.22 millionduring the year-ago quarter. The entire gainwas from Medi-Cal managed care, whereenrollment grew to 988,000, compared to

896,000 during the third quarter of 2010. Thagrowth offset enrollment losses in both itsgroup and individual business lines thattotaled 40,000. Enrollment in Oregon droppealmost 6%, but was up in Arizona by 25%,from 141,000 to 177,000.

Health Nets overall enrollment incommercial, Medicare, Medicaid and TriCareplans stood at 5.96 million, virtuallyunchanged from a year ago.

In an earnings conference call, ChiefExecutive Ofcer Jay Gellert indicated thatHealth Net was focused on increasing marginon its existing lines of business in order to

boost protability.Margin expansion has been a hallmarkof our recent progress and the third quarterwas another step forward...we continue tobenet from disciplined pricing, favorableproduct and geographic mix changes, and lowutilization trends. he said.

American children are already combatingobesity, but those children with disabilitiesand special needs have an even tougher timecontrolling their weight, according to a newreport by a San Francisco-based advocacyorganization.

Finding Balance, released byAbilityPath.org, concluded that the obesityrate among boys with disabilities is 21%,compared to 17% for those withoutdisabilities. About 23% of disabled girls areobese, compared to 14% among those whodo not have disabilities.

The report noted that mobility issues, fooaversions and side effects from medicationscan all contribute to obesity in children whoare disabled or have special needs.Physical activity is not a deterrent: nearly athird ofSpecial Olympics athletes areconsidered obese, and about half are at anunhealthy weight.

This is quite alarming to us, saidStephen Corbin, a Special Olympics vicepresident. Once people get very heavy, theytend not to want to do physical activity. So itsalmost a self-fullling death sentence.

HEALTHCARES BEST ADVERTISING VALU]

PAYERS & PROVIDERS reaches 5,000 hospital, health plan and noprot executives statewide. There is no better venue for marketin

your organization or conference, or recruiting new staff.

CALL (877) 248-2360, ext. 2Or CLICK HERE

Obesity Plagues Special Needs KidsRates Are Much Higher Than Nationwide Average

Health Net Reports Flat EarningsMost New Growth Coming Outside of California
http://payersandproviders.com/advertise.phphttp://payersandproviders.com/advertise.php


4/5

!"#$%&$'!()!*+,,!-!*+,,!&.!/0.$'1!2!/'"#34$'1!/5&6317389)!::;

Payers & Providers PageOPINION

The Autism Treatment Law Is FlawedExemptions Leave Millions Without Access to Therap

Henry Loubet is the chief strategy officer f

Keenan. He is a member of the Payers &

Providers editorial board.

F!38!&56H!5?!D"!,+!

15&1C'3&$'1IA!=D!31!4$63#$'$4!&.!$J%036!01!0!/KL!0DD0C7%$8D)!"'!01!08!$6$CD'"83C!8$M16$DD$'AB66!04#$'D31389)!15&1C'3&$'!084!

$43D"'306!38N53'3$1OGPQQI!*>PJ*(R+

38S"T?0.$'1084?'"#34$'1AC"%

U036389!044'$11OP,P!!A!V"66.M""4!W0.)!X53D$!YY5'&08H)!;B!F,Z+Z

W$&13D$

MMMA?0.$'1084?'"#34$'1AC"%

L0C$&""H

MMMAS0C$&""HAC"%[?0.$'1?'"#34$'1

@M3DD$'

MMMADM3DD$'AC"%[?0.$'1?'"#34$'1

\43D"'306!Y"0'4XD$#$8!@A!


5/5

MARKETPLACE/EMPLOYMENTPayers & Providers Page 5

It costs up to $27,000 to fill a healthcare job*

will do it for a lot less.

Employment listings begin at just $1.65 a word

Call (877) 248-2360, ext. 2Or e-mail: [email protected]

Or visit: www.payersandproviders.com

*New England Journal of Medicine, 2004.

SEEKING A NEW POSITION?

CAN HELP.

We publish advertisements for those seekingnew career

opportunities for just $1.25 a word.

If you prefer discretion, well handle allresponses to your ad.

Call (877) 248-2360, ext. 2, or [email protected].

Documents

Payers & Providers California Edition – Issue of November 3, 2011