As officials of Santa Ana-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. work to turn the company around, PacifiCare of California, the company’s Cypress-based HMO subsidiary, is firming up pacts with some of its core providers around the state.
PacifiCare announced the signing of a multi-year contract with Sutter Health, a Sacramento-based not-for-profit system. The contract covers approximately 200,000 PacifiCare commercial and Secure Horizons Medicare HMO members around the state.
PacifiCare of California’s deal with Sutter Health comes at a time when the latter has been embroiled in a payment war with Blue Cross of California, the HMO arm of Thousand Oaks-based WellPoint Health Networks Inc.
Sutter has said that it wants the same rates from Blue Cross that it gets from other large health plans in California,that would mean rate increases of around 35% in some areas. Blue Cross, on the other hand, contends that it should get a discount for volume and has expressed concern about boosting rates it charges employers if it were to agree to Sutter’s demands.
Sutter serves more than 3 million people in a geographical region bounded by the Oregon-California border, the San Joaquin Valley, the Pacific coast and the Sierra foothills. The system has care centers in more than 100 Northern California communities, more than two dozen acute care hospitals, and home healthcare, hospice, long-term care and research and education facilities. Sutter has relationships with approximately 5,000 physicians and a system-wide workforce of more than 35,000 people.
First Consulting in on $100M Deal
First Consulting Group Inc., a Long Beach-based provider of consulting, integration and management services to healthcare, pharmaceutical and life-sciences organizations, is part of a five-year outsourcing agreement valued at an estimated $100 million. First Consulting signed the agreement in conjunction with Affiliated Computer Services, a Fortune 1000 information technology services company and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
University of Pennsylvania Health System officials estimate that they will save around $19 million in operating costs over the life of the contract. First Consulting and Affiliated Computer Services will provide specialized data management services for the health system, with Affiliated Computer Services acting as a subcontractor to First Consulting, providing data center and computer processing services.
First Consulting Group said it would receive $23 million in the first year of the contract, while Affiliated Computer Services would receive $31 million.
Bits and Pieces:
Bergen Brunswig Drug Co., Orange, exhibited its iBergen pharmaceutical ordering site late last month at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacies’ midyear clinical meeting in Las Vegas. Bergen Brunswig Drug Co. is a subsidiary of Bergen Brunswig Corp. Separately, Bergen Brunswig Drug said it signed a five-year contract with InSource Health Services, a national group purchasing organization. Under the deal, Bergen Brunswig Drug will provide pharmaceuticals to InSource’s acute and alternate care facilities Prescription Solutions Inc., Costa Mesa, a wholly owned subsidiary of PacifiCare, launched a brand campaign that includes a new logo, positioning strategy and marketing materials. Prescription Solutions is a pharmacy benefit management company.
