Ingram Micro Inc., a Santa Ana-based distributor of computer products, consumer electronics and software, has established a new network that’s targeting the information technology needs of the U.S. healthcare market.
A release from the company said the Ingram Micro Healthcare Partner Network would focus on marketing information technology products to doctors’ offices, hospitals and other healthcare businesses, and offering ongoing support.
The products could include electronic medical records.
Ingram is the largest Orange County-based company by revenue, with 2010 sales of $34.9 billion. The company’s primary business is supplying products from Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and others to what are known as value-added resellers, or consultants who install and maintain technology products for businesses (see related story, page 4).
Michael Humke, Ingram’s senior director of vertical markets, talked more about the healthcare network in an interview with MSPmentor, an industry blog.
Ingram asked its customers where they saw growth in healthcare “and how Ingram can help them excel.” Many said that it’s “impossible for any provider to do 100% of the work for their customers,” Humke said.
Enter the new network.
Humke said it started to form organically before Ingram formally introduced it—customers were meeting one another at Ingram roundtables and other events and starting to collaborate.
Ingram plans to keep the network tight, according to Humke.
“Our objective is just south of 300 partners,” he said. “We don’t want to saturate the market.”
Acthar Slowdown
Anaheim-based drug maker Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. saw its stock slip a bit since it gave word that growth in new prescriptions of its H.P. Acthar Gel drug has slowed.
Acthar is mainly used to treat multiple sclerosis exacerbations, or flares, as well as infantile spasms and a kidney condition called nephrotic syndrome.
New multiple sclerosis prescriptions for Acthar grew about 10% in July and August from the second quarter, Questcor said on Sept. 12. By contrast, new prescriptions for multiple sclerosis flares grew 48% in the second quarter over the first quarter.
The company said that the growth rate of new Acthar prescriptions in its secondary uses—infantile spasms and nephrotic syndrome—were about the same as the second quarter.
Questcor’s shares fell 3% in midday trading on Sept. 12.
They remain up about 92% for the year, to a recent market value of about $1.7 billion.
Allergan Competitor Sells Unit
Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. in Scottsdale, Ariz., a competitor of Irvine-based Allergan Inc., has sold its Medicis Technologies Corp. unit for $35 million.
Solta Medical Inc., located in the Bay area city of Hayward, got the LipoSonix device in the deal. LipoSonix, which recently got Food and Drug Administration marketing approval, uses ultrasound to destroy abdominal fat deposits.
A note from Zacks Equity Research said the deal “bodes well for Solta’s business model” and allows it to enter the “large and growing non-invasive fat reduction market.”
Medicis sold LipoSonix so it can focus on its dermatology and facial aesthetics business, according to reports. The company’s products include Restylane, a lower-face filler that competes with Allergan’s Juvéderm, and Dysport, a neurotoxin that goes up against Botox, Allergan’s longtime flagship drug.
UnitedHealth: Increase, Decrease
Minneapolis-based health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc., which employs more than 3,000 people in Cypress, could lose more than a half-million poor, elderly enrollees in its Medicare drug benefit programs because of a premium increase, according to a new study.
The study, by Avalere Health Inc., a Washington, D.C. consulting firm, said that premiums for UnitedHealth’s plan that is sold through advocacy group American Association of Retired Persons, are set to increase by 14% on average in 2012.
The report estimated UnitedHealth would lose 535,000 Medicare drug subscribers next year because premiums for the AARP plan are too high to qualify for federal low-income subsidies in most parts of the country. That’s a little more than 10% of its Medicare enrollment base.
By contrast, Avalere’s study showed that premiums for competing Medicare drug plans from Louisville, Ky.-based Humana Inc., sold through Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville, Ark., will rise 2%.
UnitedHealth didn’t dispute Avalere’s findings but defended its premium hikes, saying they’re intended to “appeal to the broader population,” said Tom Paul, chief executive of the company’s UnitedHealthCare Medicare & Retirement unit.
Bits and Pieces
The Orange County Black Chamber of Commerce is among 35 finalists in Aetna Voices of Health, a national competition by the Hartford, Conn.-based insurance company that recognizes agencies working in their communities to encourage racial and ethnic equality in healthcare … Irvine medical device maker Biolase Technology Inc. said it received a new patent for a medical device used for cleaning and disinfecting root canals … La Palma Intercommunity Hospital said that it received recognition by the Joint Commission, a Washington, D.C.-based accrediting group, for clinical processes that are shown to improve care for heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care and pediatric asthma … Radiation Oncology Medical Group of Southern California recently opened the Yorba Linda Cancer Center at the corner of Linda Vista Way and Yorba Linda Boulevard. The center offers what’s called advanced cancer care, including a linear accelerator that delivers precise radiation to cancer patients.
