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Radiance Shuffles Board, Pushes on With U.S. Device Trial

Radiance Shuffles Board, Pushes on With U.S. Device Trial

Dental Plan Changes Names, Owner; St. Paul Dropping Healthcare Insurance

HeaLTHCARE by Vita Reed

The past couple of months have been busy for Radiance Medical Systems Inc., an Irvine-based medical device maker.

The latest news came before Christmas, when Michael Henson, a founder of Radiance and its predecessor, Cardiovascular Dynamics Inc., said he would step down as chairman of the company’s board Jan. 1. Henson is staying on as a board member.

Jeffrey O’Donnell is Henson’s replacement as chairman. O’Donnell has been associated with Radiance and Cardiovascular Dynamics since 1995. He became the company’s president in 1997 and chief executive in 1998. O’Donnell resigned from those positions in 1999 but had remained a director.

“I have either been chairman or CEO of these companies since their inception 10 years ago,” Henson said in a statement. “I believe that 10 years is an appropriate length of time to serve in these capacities in any company.”

Radiance “has an excellent foundation for future growth,” according to Henson. He said the company’s management is continuing clinical trials and working toward U.S. market approval of its vascular brachytherapy device. A licensing pact with Indianapolis-based Guidant Corp. guarantees royalty income, he said.

In November, Radiance offered an update of a clinical study it conducted involving its RDX coronary radiation device during the American Heart Association’s meeting in Anaheim. Radiance said the study results showed the lowest rate of forming new vessel blockages of any vascular brachytherapy clinical trial conducted thus far.

The study is taking place at some 30 U.S. clinical centers with more than 400 patients. It is intended to determine the safety and effectiveness of RDX in patients who have had a coronary stent implanted and have returned to the hospital with reoccurring arterial blockage within the coronary artery at the site of the stent implantation.

New Owner, New Name

Preferred Dental Plan Inc., a dental health maintenance organization based in Newport Beach, is under new ownership. Dr. Amir Neshat, chairman of Newport Coast Dental Inc., purchased the plan out of receivership from the California Department of Managed Care. A purchase price was not disclosed.

Preferred Dental Plan has changed its name to Liberty Dental Plan of California. Liberty officials said that they are going to develop a marketing campaign that focuses on benefit structures and premium affordability. Liberty also is planning to target small and midsize employer groups.

California regulators seized Preferred Dental Plan in February. In published reports, the department said Preferred Dental Plan had nearly $600,000 in unpaid bills and other liabilities but only around $53,500 in cash on hand.

Got Insurance?

More than 40,000 physicians and 750 hospitals around the country may be on the verge of losing their medical malpractice insurance because the St. Paul Cos., a Minnesota-based insurer, is dropping its healthcare insurance division altogether.

St. Paul, which has 2,064 healthcare policyholders throughout California, said it lost more than $700 million in the past four years.

The insurer said that it would leave the medical malpractice business through not renewing policies after they expire. The company said that medical malpractice would generate a 2001 underwriting loss of $940 million. St. Paul is considered the second-largest insurer of doctors after the Medical Liability Mutual Insurance Co. of New York.

Meanwhile, the American Medical Association plans to continue lobbying for a tort reform package similar to one passed around 1976 by the California Legislature. That law places a limit of $250,000 on non-economic losses and restricts the percentage of awards to attorneys.

Bits and Pieces:

Dallas Salisbury, president of the Employee Benefits Research Institute, is presenting “Healthcare: A Washington View” during the Jan. 10 Orange County Employee Benefit Council meeting at the Irvine Marriott Pavilion. Information: (714) 573-8605 Construction officially kicked off on the Walnut Grove Medical Center, a 40,000-square-foot medical office complex near Western Medical Center-Anaheim. The building is a joint project of the hospital and Walnut Grove Medical Center LP Nurses at UCI Medical Center, Orange, and some 150 other hospitals around California, campaigned for nurse-to-patient ratios earlier this month under the auspices of the California Nurses Association. Specific ratios spelled out in California’s hospital staffing law are scheduled to go into effect in January Blue Cross of California, which has more than 511,000 members in Orange County, introduced Provider Access, an Internet site that allows physicians and hospital staff to track members’ claims payments and benefit coverage Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Newport Beach, signed a contract with USCS Equipment Technology Solutions of Brookfield, Wis. The deal is designed to reduce Hoag’s clinical equipment maintenance costs, officials said Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, Fountain Valley, introduced free senior transportation … UCI Medical Center, Orange, started a support group for children who have siblings with disabilities.

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