PacifiCare, St. Joseph Set Parting Dates; Beckman Adds Testosterone Test
As Christmas approaches, healthcare industry employees who draw their paychecks from health plans may have a little more jingle in their holiday shopping pockets. That’s because a new study from William M. Mercer Inc., which has an office in Orange, shows that health plan employees saw bigger pay increases than their counterparts who work for healthcare providers.
Mercer’s survey showed that health plans gave their employees a median base pay hike of 5.4% in 2000, compared with a median base pay increase of 3.6% for healthcare providers. The same pattern holds for total cash compensation, which includes base pay plus short-term incentives, according to Mercer.
Mercer found that health plans gave employees a median cash compensation increase of 8.5% in 2000, compared with 4.1% more awarded by healthcare providers.
Mercer noted that executives of “integrated health networks” fared particularly well, with a median base pay increase of 5.5% and median total cash compensation increase of 10.4% in 2000. Integrated health networks include multi-market provider-management companies and managed-care organizations.
As for 2001, Mercer noted that for-profit healthcare organizations had budgeted for slightly larger pay increases than their not-for-profit counterparts. For instance, for-profit healthcare organization managers were budgeting for 3.9% salary increases, compared with 3.6% for their not-for-profit counterparts. For-profits’ technical and professional employees were budgeted for 3.8% base pay increases, compared with 3.6% for those at not-for-profit healthcare organizations.
PacifiCare, St. Joe Set Dates to Part
PacifiCare of California, Cypress, and St. Joseph Health System, Orange, recently agreed on the dates they formally will end their contractual relationships. The contract for Secure Horizons Medicare health maintenance organization patients will end March 31, while the pact for PacifiCare’s commercial HMO patients will end June 30.
The parties said there will be no continuing care obligations when those dates are reached, meaning that patients who receive care from any of the six medical groups or three hospitals associated with St. Joseph will be transferred to another physician network by PacifiCare.
Who’s the Man?
Beckman Coulter Inc., Fullerton, recently received clearance from the FDA to market Access Testosterone, a test to determine levels of the sex hormone in human serum and plasma. Access Testosterone is the 34th test to be cleared or approved by the FDA for use in Beckman’s Access Immunoassay system.
Access Testosterone is designed to assist in the management of patients with fertility disorders, sexual dysfunction, tumors or other conditions. It is intended for use by commercial laboratories, hospitals and endocrinology and fertility clinics.
Results can be generated in as little as 16 minutes, according to Beckman. Abnormal levels of testosterone are linked with a range of conditions. In men, those can be pituitary hormone deficiency or infertility. In women, abnormal levels may be a sign of ovarian tumors or cancer of the uterus.
Tenet Develops Net Courses
Tenet Healthcare Corp., which operates nine Orange County hospitals, formed an Internet venture that is designed to provide continuing-education opportunities for its employees and other healthcare professionals. As part of that initiative, Santa Barbara-based Tenet announced it acquired e-vitro, a Boulder, Colo.-based online healthcare education company, for an undisclosed price.
The new venture will have more than 60 employees and offices in San Francisco and Boulder. The combined venture already has developed more than 200 hours of online coursework, including some leading to a bachelor of science degree in nursing, and more than 500 hours of coursework are now in production.
Bits and Pieces:
Saddleback Memorial Medical Center, Laguna Hills, added 15 beds to its Saddleback Women’s Hospital unit. The beds will serve post-partum patients and those recovering from hysterectomies, mastectomies and other surgical procedures. Separately, Saddleback Memorial began offering cutting-balloon angioplasty, a procedure touted as allowing physicians to open blocked arteries with greater precision and effectiveness than a traditional angioplasty … Maret Pharmaceuticals Inc., Newport Beach, said results from early clinical trials showed that its MARstem medication could help treat or prevent pancytopenia, or blood cell reduction, following chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. Maret reported its results at a symposium on new drugs in cancer therapy in Amsterdam … Schering-Plough Corp. donated 70 laptop computers to community healthcare workers in Santa Ana. The recipients included school nurses, Promotores of Latino Health Access, Santa Ana, and the mobile health clinics of Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Orange … Bristol Park Medical Group, Orange, and Monarch HealthCare/Physician WebLink, Mission Viejo, were elected to the California Association of Physician Organizations’ governing board of directors. The association is made up of medical groups and independent practice associations around the state.
