PPM/MSO News
July 12, 1999 2 minutes read
PPM/MSO News
• Concentra Health Services (St. Louis) and Tenet HealthSystem (St. Louis) have formed a joint venture to provide expanded occupational health services in the St. Louis area. The venture went into effect on May 31 and was formed when Concentra acquired from Tenet a 51% interest in six former HealthLine occupational health clinics. The two companies have similar working environments in Florida and Louisiana.
• PhyMatrix Corp. (Providence, RI) has hired Adrian Otte as COO of its pharmaceutical services business, which includes the wholly owned subsidiary Clinical Studies and Medical Research International. Otte previously served as vice president of medical research for Zeneca Pharmaceuticals. The company has also hired Linda Strause as vice president of corporate accounts. She last worked as senior director of investigative site resources at Quintiles. And the company hired Veronica Barrett as general counsel. She most recently worked as an attorney at a healthcare firm in Boston. In addition, PhyMatrix has entered into a service agreement with Pharmacia & Upjohn, which will include clinical and outcomes research and disease management projects.
• A class action lawsuit has named Physicians’ Specialty Corp. (Atlanta), some of its directors, and TA Associates as defendants in the Delaware Chancery Court. The suit alleges that the directors breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders by approving the move to go private with the transaction with TA Associates. It requests injunctive relief to enjoin consummation of the merger transaction or compensatory damages and costs and disbursements. The company said the suit has no merit and that it intends to defend itself. The company has also acquired the assets of Computerized Tomography Center (Atlanta).
• The Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC; Washington) has issued two reports on the state of physician organizations in Orange County, CA, and Miami. Market in Turmoil as Physician Organizations Stumble highlights the changes in the Orange County market since 1996. Physician organizations there are having trouble due to long term capitation agreements that were not adjusted for rising costs. The bankruptcies of MedPartners’ (Birmingham, AL) California operations and FPA Medical Management have raised concerns about who is accountable under capitated agreements for paid-for care not yet delivered, HSC reported. The second report, Market Calm, But Change on the Horizon, highlights changes in Miami’s healthcare market since 1996. The city has generous Medicare and Medicaid rates, but it may face state and federal policy changes that would reduce the rates, said HSC President Paul Ginsburg.
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