More Health Networks to Rely on Beckman Instruments; Diversity Grants Awarded
PacifiCare of California is losing Orange-based St. Joseph Health System from its hospital network, but the Cypress-based health maintenance organization has come to terms with a big partner: Tenet Healthcare Corp., Orange County’s largest hospital operator. Tenet has signed a new long-term contract with PacifiCare of California, a subsidiary of Santa Ana-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc.
PacifiCare’s deal with Santa Barbara-based Tenet is effective immediately and runs through 2002. Covered hospitals include: Chapman Medical Center in Orange; Coastal Communities Hospital in Santa Ana; Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center; Irvine Regional Hospital and Medical Center and Los Alamitos Medical Center. Placentia Linda Hospital, Santa Ana Hospital Medical Center, Western Medical Center-Anaheim and Western Medical Center-Santa Ana are also included.
“This agreement provides a platform for growth for both Tenet and PacifiCare and represents stability, accountability and quality care for Orange County employees,” said Chris Wing, PacifiCare of California’s chief executive, in a release.
The contract, a renewal of an existing pact, is longer than the industry standard of one year and “is an effort to stabilize the Southern California market” and create a good working atmosphere among the health plan, hospitals, physicians, employers and members, according to PacifiCare. The insurer also said the contract covers nine Tenet hospitals, eliminating the need for separate deals between PacifiCare-Secure Horizons and individual facilities.
In particular, PacifiCare said the deal has “greatly simplified financial terms, which should significantly ease the cost and time involved in the claims payment process.” Along with reimbursement, hospital administrators sometimes worry about the length and time it takes to receive payments from their health plans.
PacifiCare and other HMOs’ efforts to build their hospital and doctor networks will be critical this year, according to one managed care industry analyst.
“You must have a stable provider network or you will have untold problems with your employer-customers,” said Sheryl Skolnick, a healthcare analyst formerly with Robertson Stephens who appeared at the University of California, Irvine’s Graduate School of Management’s Health Care Forecast Conference late last month.
Beckman Adds Customers
Beckman Coulter Inc., Fullerton, said it signed several contracts with integrated health networks valued at $41.3 million during the fourth quarter. The deals make Beckman the sole-source provider of biomedical instruments, consumables and services to various hospital networks.
Beckman’s new contracts include a five-year, $8 million deal with Integris Health Inc. in Oklahoma City, Okla., for chemistry and immunodiagnostic systems; a six-year, $7 million deal with Saint Barnabas Health Care System in West Orange, N.J. for hematology systems; a six-year, $5.6 million contract with Kaleida Health Systems in Williamsville, N.Y. for chemistry, immunodiagnostics and automation systems; and a five-year, $4.5 million agreement covering hematology, hemostasis and flow cytometry with St. John Health System in Warren, Mich.
Beckman also inked sales contracts worth $16.2 million with Ohio Health in Columbus, Ohio; Integrated Regional Labs in Snellville, Ga.; North Country Laboratory Managers Association in upstate New York; St. Clares Health Services in Dover, N.J.; and Interpath Laboratories Inc. in Pendleton, Ore.
Foundation Backing Diversity
The HealthCare Foundation for Orange County, Santa Ana, awarded nearly $725,000 in grants to Anaheim Memorial Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente, St. Joseph Hospital and UCI Medical Center to increase the ethnic diversity of their healthcare workforces. The foundation said it awarded the grants based on findings from the Orange County Health Needs Assessment showing that cultural and linguistic factors present a barrier to care for low-income families.
A joint project of Anaheim Memorial and St. Joseph received $595,623. The institutions, in conjunction with the Regional Health Occupations Resources Center and colleges around Orange County, plan to place existing entry-level healthcare workers from minority groups in local training programs. The programs are intended to prepare the workers for positions such as hemodialysis technicians, sonographers and emergency nurses.
Other efforts that received foundation funding include collaboration between Kaiser Permanente and California State University, Long Beach, and a joint effort of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Newport Beach, and Latino Health Access to curb obesity among low-income Latino children.
Bits and Pieces:
Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, Mission Viejo, had a simulated cardiac arrest demonstration late last month at the Mall of Orange. The demonstration was part of a nationwide public access defibrillation trial in which the hospital is a participant … A.M. Best Co., a national insurance ranking service, affirmed the A financial strength rating of Delta Dental Plan of California, which has 630,000 Orange County enrollees.
