PacifiCare Health Systems Inc.’s Oregon unit is posting a financial revival.
Portland-based PacifiCare of Oregon logged a 230% gain in net income for the nine-month period through Sept. 30, according to the Portland Business Journal.
Income rose despite a membership decline of 20% to 16,138 in the period, according to state insurance filings. Revenue fell 8% to $248 million.
The membership decline came primarily because customers shifted from PacifiCare of Oregon’s health maintenance organization plan, which offers richer benefits, to indemnity and consumer-directed plans, said David Hansen, general manager for Cypress-based PacifiCare’s Northwest region, in an interview with the Portland newspaper. The indemnity and consumer-directed plans operate as PacifiCare Life and Insurance Co.
PacifiCare also hiked its HMO prices.
“If you want richer benefits you are going to have to pay more as there is more utilization,” Hansen said.
Some of PacifiCare of Oregon’s rivals also posted rebounds, including market leader Regence BlueCross Blue Shield of Oregon and Health Net of Oregon.
Separately, PacifiCare introduced HealthCare Cost Estimator, an Internet-based program that provides information and prices for treatments of 200 common diseases, conditions and medical procedures. Details about services targeted to specific locations also are offered on the Web site.
PacifiCare said that HealthCare Cost Estimator is free for members of its SignatureOptions preferred provider organization and SignatureFreedom plans. The latter is PacifiCare’s entry in the “consumer-driven” healthcare market.
The company developed the tool with information provided by Integrated Healthcare Information Services Inc., a Waltham, Mass.-based company. Integrated sells predictive modeling and information data to the healthcare industry.
HealthCare Cost Estimator is intended to help consumers get a better understanding of the costs of healthcare, said Bradford Bowlus, chief executive of PacifiCare’s Health Plans division.
Giving workers an accurate idea of health costs is one of the underpinnings of the consumer-driven movement and could lead to more discerning use of health services. That, of course, would help PacifiCare on the cost front.
Valeant Pares Plants
The ongoing makeover of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International continues.
The Costa Mesa-based drug maker said it plans to sell one of its factories in Mexico City to Inmobiliaria Zerboni SA de CV for an undisclosed amount. Valeant is set to hold on to another plant it owns in Mexico City.
“The completion of this sale will occur ahead of schedule and we are confident that our manufacturing rationalization efforts will continue at an aggressive pace in the coming year,” said Robert O’Leary, Valeant’s chairman and former chief executive, in a release.
Valeant started its plant cutbacks in 2003 with a goal of reducing operations from 33 sites to five by the end of 2006. When the Inmobiliaria sale completes, Valeant will have 12 plants.
Ambry Activity
Irvine-based genetic tester Ambry Genetics Corp. named Dr. James Thompson as its medical director.
Thompson, a pathologist and entrepreneur, will continue as chief executive and medical director for Pathogenesys, also based in Irvine.
Pathogenesys does pathology testing to help drug makers develop cancer drugs and treatments. Thompson also is senior medical director for LabCorp’s Orange County operations. LabCorp is acquiring US Labs Inc.
Meanwhile, Ambry named Dr. Luke Padwick, a physician who practices in Lubbock, Texas, to its board of directors. Padwick, prior to his medical training, worked in research and development finance for Cupertino-based Apple Computer Inc.
Separately, Ambry said it was accredited by the College of American Pathologists’ laboratory. During the accreditation process, inspectors examine a laboratory’s records and quality control for a two-year period.
Bits and Pieces:
UCI Medical Center, Orange, received a $625,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety for a project designed to prevent drunk driving and assist people with alcohol problems. The 2.5-year project includes screening, brief intervention and referrals for English- and Spanish-speaking adults who come to the hospital’s emergency department for medical care … BC Life and Health Insurance Co., Anaheim, received a contract to provide a workers’ compensation medical network to Majestic Insurance Co., San Francisco. BC Life and Health is an affiliate of Blue Cross of California and an operating subsidiary of WellPoint Inc., Thousand Oaks … Placentia-Linda Hospital introduced Medtronic Bravo pH, a catheter-free test designed to diagnose severe heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease … Trestle Holdings Inc., Irvine, signed a distribution agreement with Kurabo Industries Ltd., a Japanese supplier of biomedical systems to healthcare, life science and biopharmaceutical companies. Trestle will provide its digital imaging and telemedicine products, including microscopes, to Japan through Kurabo.
