MemorialCare Health System, a Fountain Valley-based nonprofit hospital operator, has added four doctors groups as affiliates of its MemorialCare Medical Foundation.
The foundation is a medical management group that contracts with doctors groups to offer care for patients of insurance plans that contract with MemorialCare.
MemorialCare said that the network initially will have 123 doctors and 700 workers caring for patients in Orange and Los Angeles counties.
Participants include:
• Bristol Park Medical Group, which is based in Tustin and has 10 locations throughout the county and more than 90 doctors and providers in family medicine, internal medicine, geriatrics and pediatrics.
• Memorial Prompt Care and Family Medicine, which has two locations in Huntington Beach and one in Westminster. The group has 16 primary care doctors.
• Memorial Family Medicine, which has offices in San Clemente and Long Beach. That group includes a family medicine practitioner, a geriatrician, a psychologist and others.
• Specialty Physicians of Long Beach, a five-doctor group.
The medical foundation model allows doctors and hospitals to align as a way to improve patient care and boost efficiency, according to MemorialCare.
Several other hospital systems throughout the state have affiliated medical foundations, including Sacramento-based Sutter Health.
Industry observers have said that medical foundations may boost doctors’ “buy-in” to hospitals in states such as California, where it is illegal for hospitals to directly employ doctors.
As part of the deal, Patrick Kapsner, Bristol Park’s chief executive, has assumed the MemorialCare Medical Foundation chief executive post.
MemorialCare said it expects more doctors groups to join in the future.
Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley and Saddleback Memorial Medical Center, with campuses in Laguna Hills and San Clemente, are MemorialCare’s local hospitals.
Activist at Endologix?
Endologix Inc., an Irvine maker of devices to repair damaged blood vessels, could see agitation from an activist investor, a recent article on the Seeking Alpha investor website predicted.
Author Marc Lichtenfeld wrote that Elliott Associates LP, a New York hedge fund that owns 12% of Endologix, “has an excellent track record in investing in undervalued companies.”
Elliott launched a buyout bid for Endologix that was rejected in 2008.
The article highlighted Endologix’ key product, the Powerlink system, which repairs abdominal aortic aneurysms. The aneurysms are fatal in more than half of all cases if left untreated.
Endologix also could be a takeover target in 2011, according to Lichtenfeld. To bolster his point, he mentioned the sale in June of Ev3 Inc., a device maker with about 400 workers in OC. Ev3 went for $2.6 billion, or more than six times its revenue, in a sale to Covidien Ltd., a medical device conglomerate that operates from Massachusetts and has a tax-friendly headquarters in Ireland.
“It’s very reasonable to believe that Endologix could fetch the same price tag from a company that wants a business growing at a 20% clip per year,” Lichtenfeld said.
If Endologix hits analysts’ consensus of $66 million in sales for 2010, “it could easily garner a price tag of more than $8 per share, roughly 25% higher than the current price,” Lichtenfeld said.
Through mid-December, Endologix’ shares rose 28% in 2010, finishing the year with a market value of about $345 million.
Billing Firm Consolidates Here
Conifer Health Solutions, a Dallas-based medical billing company, said in late December that it was closing two California offices and consolidating its work to its Anaheim location.
The company employs about 300 people and is planning to expand, according to a report in the Modesto Bee.
Any increases in employment will come in Anaheim. A Conifer spokesman said the company is shuttering offices in Modesto and Alhambra. He said that workers affected by the consolidation will receive severance packages and have the opportunity to apply for jobs in Anaheim.
Conifer was created in 2008, when Tenet Healthcare Corp., a Dallas-based hospital operator with three local facilities, combined its communications arm and its patient financial services unit.
Bits and Pieces:
NextGen Healthcare Information Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Irvine medical software maker Quality Systems Inc., said it signed a deal with Philadelphia’s Wills Eye Health System. Wills Eye will use NextGen’s Ambulatory E.H.R. and NextGen Practice Management software … UC Irvine Healthcare said the American Heart Association recognized its program for heart failure patients. The association’s award was based on UCI Medical Center’s achievement at least 85% compliance on standards of care for heart failure, including therapies such as beta blockers, cholesterol-lowering drugs, aspirin and diuretics.
