Chris Anderson
The Everett Clinic and member-owned healthcare co-op Group Health Cooperative announced this week they would strengthen their existing relationship through an alliance that will create an accountable care organization to serve seniors in Group Health's Medicare Advantage plan.
While major stock indices absorbed their biggest single-day losses of the year Wednesday as investors came to grips with the post-election reality of the fiscal cliff -- amplified by fresh EuroZone worries -- most of the large, publicly-traded insurance stocks absorbed losses far in excess of those of the broader markets.
A collaboration between NantHealth and Blue Shield of California announced in early October will see the two organizations develop a clinic-based continuous learning center (CLC) that will leverage supercomputing systems, high-speed, secure-fiber networks and fact-based genomic data systems, which will allow healthcare organizations to provide personalized, evidence-based treatments.
WellPoint Inc. on Wednesday reported net third quarter income of $691.2 million -- $2.15 per share -- an increase compared with same period last year, when it reported net income of $683.2 million, or $1.90 per share. The third quarter increase marks the first time since the first quarter of 2011 the company has produced a quarterly earnings increase.
By now, most medical professionals know the hard truth about healthcare delivery in this country: both cost and quality can vary greatly for the same medical procedure from region to region and often times from hospital to hospital in the same market.
In a change of course that left a city and its healthcare community stunned, West Penn Allegheny Health System in late September announced it would look for a new buyer for the financially strapped health system saying insurer Highmark had breached its 2011 agreement to acquire it for $475 million.
As it looks to both reduce out-of-pockets costs for employees, while also lowering its total healthcare costs, global retailer Walmart announced last month a new program that will pay 100 percent of the costs for certain spine and cardiac surgeries plus travel expenses at six selected healthcare systems across the country.
Humana Inc.'s third quarter earnings call was filled with more than just financial results Monday, as it also announced the acquisition of three companies as the company looks to continue building its clinical delivery infrastructure.
Just days after West Penn Allegheny Health System released its fiscal year 2012 annual report that showed operating losses of more than $112 million, interim CEO Keith Ghezzi, MD, took to the witness stand yesterday to defend the health system's decision to declare a breach in its $475 million affiliation agreement with insurer Highmark Inc.
On the strength of membership growth, and revenue generated in the Medicare Advantage and Part D segments via its acquisition of HealthSpring, Cigna today announced third quarter 2012 earnings that more than doubled its earnings from a year ago.