Written by Pelle Gustafson CMO and Jon Ahlberg Senior CMO, Patientförsäkringen LÖF

Read This Article In The May Edition Of Healthcare Global's Digital Magazine

Medical insurance is often seen as outside the patient pathway, but insurers can have real influence over how patients are treated and cared for.

Medical insurance companies can drive healthcare costs upwards and are less motivated to become involved in improving care if hospitals are paid per “executed task” regardless of necessity. Although this kind of remuneration is common in the medical community, it is increasingly being questioned and replaced by other reimbursement models where payment is based on objective or subjective results.

These new models are proving hugely beneficial for patient care. As well as lowering net costs, by reducing poor outcomes and adverse events, medical insurance companies have a new incentive to influence the level of quality and safety. By offering rewards that are based on an agreed level of quality or service, they can help healthcare providers place more emphasis on outcomes. Both providers of care and insurers benefit from this close cooperation and the main winners are the patients.

Financially Motivate Caregivers

Perhaps the most significant result of these developments is that insurance companies can financially motivate caregivers to comply with certain levels of education, staffing, training programs and safety procedures. Across the world there are countless examples where minimum levels of staffing and competence must be kept intact or the insurance policy is simply not valid, or is more expensive or limited for the caregiver. The insurer can also agree to decrease premiums with increased levels of competence, training and safety programs. In a US hospital, for instance, medical employees who have been involved in adverse events were identified by the insurer as “poor communicators and poor documenters” and were trained to improve in these areas.

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Risk & Compliance

But beyond the immediate financial benefits there is also a great deal that healthcare professionals can learn from the methods, practices and culture of insurers. Two very central themes in the running of an insurance company are “risk” and “compliance”. Handling and controlling risks is something that insurers are clearly good at and those in healthcare are learning from this system of identifying, describing and minimizing risks.

Gathering & Analyzing Information

This is not simply a case of learning by osmosis. Insurers are also taking active steps to collect and distribute information of risk-prone procedures and treatments to care-providers to improve safety and quality. Various early-warning systems for certain medical procedures or implants are being set up with insurers playing a major role in their design and implementation. Insurers are also contributing through the sponsorship of research in the fields of patient safety and quality improvement.

This process of reinvesting earnings into safety programs is an increasingly common solution in the insurance sector, especially if the organisation is a mutual. In Sweden for instance, our mutual national patient insurance company Patientförsäkringen LÖF (P-LOF) has run four projects in cooperation with 24 separate professional organizations and care-givers in areas of safe delivery care, infections after joint prosthesis surgery, abdominal surgery and medication practice in primary care. In each case the professional medical organizations are fully responsible for the medical contents of the projects while P-LOF takes the financial and administrative responsibility. The projects begin with self-assessments made by clinical departments that are followed by peer reviews, agreements on action programs and finally a follow up also performed by the peers.

Although insurer-led, these programs instigated the type of self-assessment that is needed to uncover latent risks that may be known about but not acted upon. Questions around procedures and guidelines, measurements of staff compliance and suggested areas of improvement were all asked by the insurer and answered comprehensively by care providers.

Facilitating Safe Delivery

In our safe delivery program for instance, all 46 Swedish delivery departments (and their teams of obstetricians, midwives, pediatricians and neonatologists) participated. Among the results from this project are a new definition and terminology regarding CTG-interpretation, interactive web-based training programs on interpretation of CTG-curves and neonatal resuscitation. Virtually all departments have updated or produced new local guidelines as a result and most reported an increased awareness of the importance of compliance. Preliminary data show that the number of birth-related adverse events resulting in hypoxia has decreased as a result of this insurer-provider collaboration, though these early findings have to still be interpreted with the utmost care.

Similar joint projects aimed at eliminating prosthesis-related infections and promoting safer abdominal surgery are now also underway. This type of structured, collaborative model is proving effective because it is multi-professional, voluntary, self-rated, non-normative and focused on the system and the processes. The healthcare organizations have, without exception, risen to the challenge.

Although these improvements to patient safety must ultimately be implemented by healthcare providers, insurance companies are increasingly taking a role in encouraging, incentivizing and facilitating change. Insurers must be accountable for patient care and use their resources and knowledge to create safer health environments for the future.

Research from Patientförsäkringen's projects will be presented at the Patient Safety Congress, 21-22 May in Birmingham, UK. 

Written by Pooja Thakkar

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Health care organisations the world over are leaving no stone unturned to offer quality patient care and ensure sufficient margins. Besides they are establishing adequate operating controls, procedures and mechanisms to ensure that the care providers abide by the industry practices, regulatory guidelines and corporate human resources policies. Central to these controls are financial management activities that help the top management to know their revenue and costs by location, service line, department, or other organizational structure.

A good health-care manager deals with technological innovations, integrated health-delivery systems, restructuring and ever-changing regulatory requirements. The job might even include hiring personnel, ordering medical supplies and developing the financial framework by which new programs may be implemented or old ones expanded.

Reacting To Technology Change

Every industry experiences periods of transformation around their IT infrastructure. The healthcare industry is no different. In recent years, providers have been redesigning their finance functions to recognize the changes that have been occurring in the health service industry. Substantial investments and change have already been made in medical and patient technology; however, the same level of change has not been duplicated in the business infrastructure of many healthcare organizations.

There are few key ways the right accounting software for healthcare organizations establishes seamless, automated business processes that connect front office to back office and gives healthcare professionals more time and resources to reach their goal – excellent care for patients >>>

Data Integration

A typical healthcare organization finds itself stuck in the paper-based data collection and runs dozens of disconnected systems and a plethora of patient billing and records solutions. 

Accounting software that integrates with other systems can dramatically improve operational efficiencies, reduce administrative costs, and ultimately free up cash for better affordable patient care.

Operating Efficiencies

Finance staff in many healthcare organizations today are overburdened with increasing pressures from internal and external demands.  As other areas of a healthcare practice advance due to technology investments, the organization now expects quicker turnaround on requests and more financial information.  Externally, many of the requirements from HIPPA, Sarbanes-Oxley, and HHS-GIO present challenges that are initially often overlooked for the finance team.  Today, a top accounting software can help a small finance staff more efficiently address payroll/HR requests, automate expense reporting and purchase requisitions management, provide a paperless workflow around payables management, and much more.

Many healthcare organizations are only using financial software as a tool to present their practice to external users for financing, tax returns, and owners, rather than as a system to help improve the quality of patient care, reduce costs, or to increase revenues.

An improved efficiency in medical care drives down costs while maintaining excellent patient care. Today’s accounting software lets you do more with less, with a high and rapid return on your investment.

Business Intelligence

The need for business intelligence and the demand for predictive analytics will grow in healthcare over the next few years in order to respond to the needs to increase revenue, reduce costs and comply with industry regulations and standards.

Good financial software reveals relationships between data rather than merely making data more accessible.  With electronic health records, healthcare organizations are able to do more complex analysis than ever before.  Accounting software should ideally provide strong reporting features with the ability to report by locations, departments, physicians, and service lines.

Good Management And Quality

It is costly for healthcare organizations to comply with government regulations, industry standards, or corporate quality. Powerful accounting software helps healthcare organizations reduce the cost of regulatory compliance, lessens the risk of compliance failure, and protects company assets. 

Health care financial management also serves as a key barometer for corporate performance because it helps senior management allocate corporate funds, analyze and forecast corporate financial condition, monitor personnel productivity and prepare accurate accounting reports.

These programs can analyze financial information such as medicine costs, training costs, medical equipment costs, patient billing, insurance billing, health care professional salary information, patient education program costs and general operation costs.

Software Technologies That Are Driving The Growth

The major types of software used in a healthcare organisation are listed below >>>

Electronic Health Record (EHR)

The most well known type of health information system is the electronic health record (EHR) or electronic medical record (EMR), which is the electronic equivalent of a patient’s paper chart.

Electronic health records give providers and patients’ easy access to timely health information. Using secure internet portal systems, patients can: schedule an appointment; view their medical records, including test results; update their demographic information; request a prescription refill, or communicate with the doctor or nurse.

Data is transmitted via a secure portal system to the patient’s electronic medical record and, if necessary, to a physician’s smart phone so that the patient’s condition can be monitored in real time.

Practice Management Software (PMS)

Practice management system is considered the backbone of the practice. The software allows workers to schedule appointments for different patients and ensure that there are no overlapping or overbooked time slots. Payroll and other accounting can also be carried out with the system, and workers and employers can easily keep track of the hours.

Medical Billing Software

The software is a type of computing or cloud application that enables healthcare professionals to develop, submit and track various claims as well as utilize coding systems throughout the billing cycle. These claims can either be submitted electronically or even printed and mailed to both the public and private health insurance organizations in order to collect all kinds of receivables. The software assists in the complete streamlining of the complete medical billing system.

These financial software packages are not only enabling healthcare organisations to deliver quality care but also streamlining the way information is created, collected, accessed and shared.

Hospital executives the world over are having to react and adapt to these digital changes. It is essential for healthcare institutions to embrace digital formatting – it brings with it many benefits – however, it is also vital that healthcare execs take the time to find the right software for their establishment. Take the time to speak to your employees, listen to their feedback, invest in the correct software and train people to use it efficiently. If all these steps are adhered to, then medical software has the potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry. 

Chicago-based Allscripts, sued HHC in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan in December over a contract for computer hardware and software awarded last year to Epic Systems Corp., a closely held medical-software provider based in Verona, Wisconsin.

The company has discontinued the suit and “looks forward to having the opportunity to work with HHC on other matters in the future,” Allscripts said in an e-mailed statement. Ariana Nikitas, a spokeswoman for the company, declined further comment.

“New York City Health & Hospitals Corp. is pleased that Allscripts has withdrawn the lawsuit,” the corporation said in an e-mailed statement. Evelyn Hernandez, a spokeswoman for the corporation, didn’t respond to a question about whether the case had been settled.

Written by Shukti Sarma

For any state, it is a must to provide public welfare utilities, and healthcare is the most important and universal service that comes under the agenda. All welfare states devote tremendous amount of time, resources and energy in setting up national health services, but what is the significance of having such a welfare system in place?

Probably the most well known debate on providing national healthcare to citizens in recent times has centered on Obamacare, or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). This federal law represents the most significant regulatory overhaul of the US healthcare system since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. With equal measures of scorn and praise coming in the US President’s way, it is time to see what exactly it costs the country to take care of its citizens.

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Obamacare & More: Health Is Wealth

While Obamacare is definitely the most talked about health care system in recent times, in no way is the US unique. Most countries have a social healthcare system in place. The advantages are obvious: healthcare is one of the basic human needs, and it is only fair that the state which draws its powers and wealth from the people gives them back. It is indeed, a citizen’s right to have a healthy life.

A health system is particularly indispensable where there is a big gap between the different strata of society. Healthcare becomes a luxury for the disadvantaged, who often cannot afford healthcare, and may not even have access to healthcare. When the state steps in, no citizen can be denied their rights.

Another important area of concern is medical insurance. It is a must for every individual, but most cannot afford it. A state system which provides medical insurance to its citizens can not only be expected to be fair and reasonable, but is less likely to cheat and harass patients, which is widespread in the private healthcare insurance sector.

When healthcare is state regulated or provided by the state, a lot of unfair practices are curbed. Many private hospitals are infamous for charging unreasonable amount for services, and there is little room for protest. In a state-regulated healthcare system, prices and services are fair across the spectrum, and such important information is available to the patients who otherwise, may be cheated. Also, while private healthcare providers may refuse to treat patients who cannot afford the treatment, a state is duty bound to provide the service.

Most importantly, a government is capable to summoning more resources than any private entity, and hence, the reach of a public healthcare system is vast. Constructing a hospital in a remote, poorly populated area may not be possible for a private healthcare provider- neither can they be held accountable for it. But for the government, not only is this possible, but also a matter of duty towards its citizens and must be done.

Financial Health?

While the advantages of a national health service clearly justify its existence, there are some concerns to be addressed as well. A national healthcare system is also a huge burden on the state. A national health system has universal reach, and it is only fair that the state offers pro-bono treatment to its disadvantaged citizens. But in order to subsidise that cost, it also requires a premium level income, which can come only from the rich patients. But state healthcare systems rarely focus on the premium segment, and hence, it is a field where the government has all expenditure and little income.

The question of finance also comes up when talking of medical insurance, which by default is expensive. A public welfare system being highly subsidized, providing insurance to citizens is a huge financial burden.

And lastly, there is the question of service and corruption. This problem is especially acute in developing countries. There is a perception that government run hospitals do not provide quality service- and this observation is not always incorrect. Corruption makes a mockery of the noble intentions and instead, subjects citizens to blackmail. Sadly, in many such cases, corrupt government employees go unpunished.

Duty First

But everything considered, healthcare is a necessity, and one of the primary responsibilities of a state. A national system may be a financial burden, and it may be subject to human vices like every other institution, but that cannot be reasons enough to shirk the responsibility. It is every citizen’s right to get access to healthcare. A national healthcare service may be costly, but that does not even come close to the value of life.

Following health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s recent challenge to the NHS to ‘go paperless’ by 2018, doctors and hospital executives are going to need IT tools to coordinate care electronically.

Care coordination is essential to avoid duplicate treatment and to prevent medical errors. Whether it is a GP, hospital, other healthcare provider or local authority, they are all at different levels of implementing IT. In fact, many are still manually posting or transporting health records to other members of care teams, which can take days. Even if a patient moves from one doctor to another down the corridor in a medical building, the patient may have to carry records in a paper folder rather than their being accessed or transmitted digitally.

For healthcare providers to properly exchange information and coordinate care, it should be in “near-real time”.  A phone or fax machine may not be good enough but there are numerous ways that the NHS can rise to the health secretary’s challenge >>>

#1. Make more use of existing, national tools that are already up and running

a. NHSmail is a secure, encrypted email service that can be used instead of ‘inhouse’ email systems.  It means that secure emails containing patient-identifiable data (PID) can be safely sent anywhere within the NHS.  NHSmail 2 is coming soon, which will have even more functionality.  There’s really no need to send letters and faxes to colleagues anymore!

b. Choose and Book (CAB).  About 60 percent of all first outpatient referrals are now done through CAB. Make it 100 percent to get the most benefit.  Consider the other functionality within the application such as the ‘Advice and Guidance’ section to avoid inappropriate referrals.

c. Summary Care Record.  A surprising amount of useful clinical information can be found here.  The more it’s used, the more useful it becomes.

#2. Automate the discharge summary.  It’s virtually impossible to attain the NHS standard of discharge summaries to GPs within 24 hours without using electronic systems.  A good electronic patient record system should permit electronic discharge summaries to be sent to GP systems easily.

#3. ePrescribing.  This is a high-impact patient safety issue; no more problems with doctors’ notorious handwriting. ePrescribing can be ‘standalone’ or integrated into an EPR. It may be best to start with a gradual roll-out in enthusiastic areas, rather than a ‘big bang’ approach.  Once the benefits are seen, clinicians will clamour for it in other areas.

#4. View results electronically instead of printing out paper. Get into the habit of accessing pathology and radiology results without printing out paper and consider using a Single Sign On tool so that you don’t have to remember multiple passwords.

#5. Exploit ‘departmental’ systems to the maximum. For example, if your trust has a theatre management system, see if you can use it to record the clinical record.  A relatively easy start is the surgical operation note.  But, make sure that any ‘bespoke’ systems can talk to others using Health Level 7 standards.

#6. Don’t duplicate. Paper records are not more valid than electronic ones, so you don’t have to do both.  If you’re told to write paper records and create electronic ones, someone’s missed the point. One Consultant I heard of confiscated all the pens of her trainees when they came to her clinic.

#7. Know your ‘business continuity’ policy. Inevitably there will be times when electronic systems are not available, so you need to have robust alternatives in place just in case. 

#8. Develop a ‘portal’ mentality. This means automatically pulling information from multiple sources into a single area. There are various ways of achieving this, but make sure the patient is the ‘context’, that is, you only view information about one patient at a time. This is an important patient safety factor in order to avoid confusion.

#9. Find out about your trust’s IT strategy. Your IT department needs your input. Do you have a clinical lead for IT, or even a chief clinical information officer (CCIO)?  Could you do it? You don’t need to be a ‘techy’ or have a Master’s in Informatics; this is about improving patient care, it’s not an IT project.

#10. Enjoy the digital revolution. The NHS is ‘data rich but information poor’. In the era of ‘big data’, find out ways of exploiting data for patient benefit and/or professional development. For example, how do you compare against your colleagues, other trusts, international best practice? Annual appraisal and revalidation requires individual, practitioner-level information, and nobody wants the bottom of the league table.

Pharmaceutical giant Bayer has lost its legal fight to overturn the Indian government’s decision to allow Natco Pharma to produce its cancer drug Nexavar under compulsory licence.

The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) in Chennai upheld the landmark decision made last March by the comptroller of patents citing the high cost of the medication.

Nexavar is used in the treatment of liver and kidney cancer and was sold by Bayer for Rs.280,000 ($5,100) per month while Natco is selling the drug for only Rs. 6,840 ($125) a month.

Natco will pay Bayer, Germany’s largest pharmaceutical company, a seven percent royalty rate on all the drugs they sell. The percentage was raised from six percent royalties by the IPAB.

“The challenges faced by the Indian healthcare system have little or nothing to do with patents on pharmaceutical products as all products on India’s essential drug list are not patented,” said Bayer. The company has stated that they intend to take the case to the Indian high court.

The compulsory license is recognised by the World Trade Organisation and is a tool used by governments to allow a company to manufacture a patented drug, without the consent of the innovator company.

Under the global Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement, countries can issue these licences on drugs that are deemed unaffordable to a large section of their populations.

Charities working in India were relieved by the decision. Medecins sans Frontieres said, “The decision confirms that the Indian patent office is able to use all the means legally at its disposal to check the abuse of patents and open up access to affordable versions of patented medicines.”

As we have reported in the past, there are challenges associated with adopting mHealth solutions, for example regulatory concerns, the expense and time commitment needed to implement new systems, differences of opinion between medical and technology communities and confidentiality questions to name just a few.

However, as doctor shortages mount and hospitals face new mandates related to accountability and electronic records, many in the industry are looking to mobile devices, applications and other programs to improve patient care, lower costs and drive efficiency.

Implemented correction, mHealth solutions can drive efficiency, improve patient care and ultimately save healthcare institutions a lot of money.

Healthcare Global Outlines Four Ways Mobile Health Could Help Cut Costs >>>

Mobile Care For Sudden Health Incidents

Telehealth uptake is increasing at a rapid rate – a recent report estimates it could grow by 55 percent this year alone – and therefore mobile-based solutions are becoming commonplace for immediate care. The GSMA and PwC report estimates that mobile-based care for patients with sudden health incidents could reduce primary and emergency care visits by a massive 10 percent. Already, companies like Sherpaa and Ringadoc let patients reach physicians 24/7 by phone, text or email.

Remote Patient Home Monitoring

In non-emergency situations, mobile technology could also play a role in helping doctors keep tabs on elderly or recently discharged patients remotely. With Sotera Wireless, for example, doctors can monitor patients’ blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate and other indicators through a flip-phone-sized device worn on a patient’s wrist. GSMA and PwC estimate that remote monitoring technology could lead to elderly care savings of up to 25 percent and improve patients’ quality of life.

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Mobile Access To Electronic Health Records

As more hospitals migrate to electronic medical records (EMR), patient information will increasingly be captured and accessed from mobile devices. PatientSafe, for example, plugs into several EMR systems and lets doctors and nurses log patient information (like temperature, blood pressure, etc.) and manage other workflow tasks from a specially adapted iPod Touch. According to PwC and GSMA, mobile access to electronic health records could lower the administrative burden on hospitals by 20 to 30 percent.

SMS Reminders For Scheduling Appointments (And Taking Medication)

SMS could also play a big role in reducing health costs and improving patient care. Appointment reminder services, like that offered by Medisafe, have been shown to reduce costs and boost patient attendance. Companies like Blueprint Health’s AllazoHealth and AdhereTech use SMS (and other kinds of communication) to remind patients to take their medication after sensors or algorithms note when a patient hasn’t taken medication or is likely to skip it.

The fund directors’– Don Aquilano, John McIlwraith and Dov Rosenberg – experience has shaped the areas the team is most interested in funding: software and technology-enabled business services, specialty healthcare providers, later-stage medical devices and diagnostics, and advanced manufacturing.

Although pharmaceutical and biotech companies will not make the cut, “we absolutely focus on healthcare IT, and what we would call technology-enabled business services,” McIlwraith said when asked for comment. “That’s a horizontal, but one of those verticals within it would be business services in healthcare space.”

Allos Ventures Funding Startups Early Stage Development

A recently closed fund, Allos’ second, followed the same path and targeted early-stage companies in sectors with the potential for profitable growth. The companies typically had raised seed money and were ready for their first round of institutional capital. Initial investments are usually around $2 million, with Allos leading or co-leading rounds between $3-6 million.

Cincinnati-based AssureRx Health received a portion of the firm’s first fund, totaling $11 million, along with three other companies. The bioinformatics company develops tests to help healthcare providers choose personalized medications, using gene therapy, for psychiatric patients. 

In a statement Thursday, research firm Gartner reported that healthcare providers in the country will increase their IT spending by a massive seven percent in 2013, taking it from 53 billion rupees ($977.6 million) in 2012. Spending will be made on products and services such as internal IT staff, hardware, software, external IT services, and telecommunications.

Spending on internal IT staff will see the highest growth at 18 percent, compared with other categories. Spending on external IT services will rank second highest at 9.7 percent to reach 14.5 billion rupees ($267.5 million), up from 13.2 billion rupees ($243.5 million) in 2012, driven by growth in process management and consulting.

Spending on telecommunications, which includes networking equipment and services, will remain the largest overall spending category. The segment will grow 3.9 percent to reach 17.2 billion rupees ($317.3 million), up from 16.6 billion rupees in 2012, with most growth coming from enterprise communication equipment.

Anurag Gupta, research director at Gartner, said in the statement, “Rising demand from the growing middle-class in India's large cities is fuelling growth in private-sector healthcare. Large national and state government programs will spur growth along the primary and secondary care sector and public health domain.”

Netherlands company, RegPak Bio-Pharma today announced its collaboration with Taiwan based firm Meriyana International Biotechnology to sell Chinese herbal medicine for cancer treatment in India, through its Indian subsidiary CanCure.

Announcing this, Parminder Kaur, CEO of RegPak BioPharma said, “Doctors have been shortlisted to undergo training in Taiwan to work in the CanCure Clinics to be set up in Chandigarh and later, various parts of Punjab.”

She said a substantial number of patients suffer from cancer in various areas of Punjab and claimed that the Chinese medicine would be helpful in treating those patients effectively.

Accompanied by the representatives of Meriyana International, Parminder Kaur said the herbal medicine, ‘Chinmanna’, has undergone several clinical trials in Taiwan, and that RegPak would be introducing it very soon in Europe where it has got the approvals to be introduced as compassionate medicine for terminal cancer patients.

Chinmanna is launched for treatment of various types of cancers including breast, stomach, throat, mouth, pancreas, intestinal and spleen cancer, she said.

Reckitt Benckiser Group today announced that it has signed a three year collaboration agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb for a number of market-leading over-the-counter consumer health care brands in Brazil, Mexico and certain other parts of Latin America, with an option to purchase at the end of the three year period.

The key brands included under the agreement are Naldecon, Luftal and Dermodex in Brazil and Tempra, Picot and Graneodin in Mexico. As part of the collaboration, RB will licence the brands from BMS, who will continue to manufacture them for three years. 

Rakesh Kapoor, Reckitt Benckiser Chief Executive Officer, said, “This transaction creates a material consumer health care platform, infrastructure and distribution network for RB in both Brazil and Mexico. As such it is an important step in building our consumer health care presence in Latin American emerging markets. 

“These market-leading brands have strong margins and I firmly believe they have extremely good growth potential. They fit into our existing OTC (over-the-counter) categories of pain relief, sore throat, cough and cold, anti-acid, and dermatological and will benefit from RB’s consumer marketing and innovation capabilities, and our significant levels of brand equity investment.”

Under the terms of the agreement RB will initially pay BMS $482 million to enter into the arrangement which also includes personnel, supply contracts and an option to acquire legal title to the related intellectual property at the end of the collaboration period, based on business performance. The transaction will be accounted for as a business combination and the Directors are in the process of revaluing the assets and liabilities acquired to fair value, including the value of any acquired intangible assets. Under the terms of a separate supply agreement BMS will be RB’s supplier of the products during the collaboration period.

BMS Assets had unaudited reported net revenue for the year ended 31 December 2012 of $102 million.

The collaboration will come into effect following regulatory approvals, including anti-trust approvals in the relevant jurisdictions. This is expected to be completed in Q2 2013.

Now, a jury has awarded the Massachusetts teenager and her parents a sum of $63 million over claims that the New Jersey-based multinational failed to provide adequate warnings of potential side effects on the medication’s label.

The extremely rare condition is usually caused by a reaction to drugs. Symptoms first include a fever before severely affecting the mucous membranes, leading to peeling skin covering the entire body.

Mystery Illness - Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis

The Jury’s decision reached Wednesday was met with protests from J&J’s McNeil consumer healthcare division and a statement read, “We disagree with today's verdict and are considering additional legal options. The Reckis family has suffered a tragedy and we sympathize deeply with them.” However, the company believes the label contains sufficient information on side effects and the cause of the teen’s conditions “are very rare conditions, and the specific cause is difficult to ascertain.”

The settlement awarded $50 million to the victim and $6.5 million to each of her parents.
 

The Justice Department and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reported a 50% percent increase in reclaimed funds was observed from 2009 to 2011, comprised of settlements related to fraudulently-obtained Medicare and Medicaid. Of the 1,430 charged, 734 defendants were convicted during the year.

The striking increase has been credited to the Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams and the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Team (HEAT). HEAT is a task force that was created in 2009 to address healthcare fraud.

"Our historic effort to take on the criminals who steal from Medicare and Medicaid is paying off: We are gaining the upper hand in our fight against healthcare fraud," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a released statement. 

Data analysis was used to help the teams identify high billing levels in known healthcare “fraud hot spots.” Detroit and Miami joined the list, bringing the total to nine. Other cities that made the list include Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Houston, Tampa and Baton Rouge.

Nearly 10% of all received Medicare payments fund fraudulent claims, a 2011 government report found.

"Fighting fraud is one of our top priorities and we have recovered an unprecedented number of taxpayer dollars," said Sebelius. "Our efforts strengthen the integrity of our healthcare programs and meet the president's call for a return to American values that ensure everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules."

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has ended its effort to buy the remaining stock of Taro Pharmaceutical Industries for approximately $685 million after Taro shareholders held out for a higher price.

Sun and Taro releases a joint statement today saying that terminating the $39.50 a-share merger agreement “was in the best interest of the respective companies and shareholders.” The board of Yakum, Israel-based Taro had initially agreed to the deal in August after rejecting a $24.50 a-share proposal in July. Sun, based in Mumbai, already owns 61 percent of Taro.

Sun Pharma, India’s largest drug maker by market value, has been trying to close a deal with Taro for six years. When the pharma giant first began bidding for Taro in 2007 it was losing money; however, since the company has become profitable and even before it agreed in August for Sun to buy the remaining shares, Taro’s stock price surpassed the offer price.  

Taro shares rose 0.2 percent to close at $50.55 in New York trading yesterday.

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Telefonica Digital has acquired a controlling stake in major Brazilian healthcare provider Axismed, in a bid to move into Brazil’s mobile health sector. The exact percentage of the stake or the price paid has not yet been revealed.

Axismed is a prominent chronic care management firm in Brazil. The market for mobile health products is burgeoning, and while initially Telefonica will target corporate clients, it has plans to eventually extend services to subscribers of its mobile operator, Vivo.

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The deal will allow the 180,000 patients currently in Axismed’s care to be contacted through a variety of different technologies, including videoconferencing, SMS, internet and mobile apps. Axismed aims to be able to receive medical information from patients via their domestic devices within one year.

If this goal is achieved, the firms will look to extending their footprint in Latin America, notably Chile that has been earmarked as a potential hotbed for mHealth services. In addition, Telefonica plans on offering its Vivo subscribers access to mHealth.

GlaxoSmithKline has announced plans to cut costs in its struggling European drugs division and has promised investors a return in growth this year, after failing to deliver projected sales and margin recovery in 2012. After putting a number of major drug patent losses behind it, GSK had originally banked on pulling out of its slump in 2012. However, sales were held back by larger than expected drug price cuts in austerity-hit Europe.

GSK, Britain’s biggest drug maker has said that restructuring its European operations will amount to annual cost savings of at least £1 billion ($1.6 billion) until 2016.

The firm has also placed its Lucozade and Ribena drinks brands under strategic review – a process that could see the products repositioned, partnered with another company or sold off.

Andrew Witty, CEO told reporters that he is hoping for growth in the year ahead. “2013 should be the first in a series of growth years for GSK,” he said.

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• GSK To Publicize All Clinical Trial Data

Europe has been a weak point for many drug makers but GSK's portfolio has been particularly hard hit by government budget cuts. As a result, Witty said he was taking action to “reduce costs, improve efficiencies and reallocate resources.”

The restructuring process in Europe will involve some job cuts but he declined to go into details.

New Products Pitched To Boost Profitability

The pharma giant is also relying on a number of new drugs to turn around its ailing fortunes in the mid-term, starting with six products that have already been submitted for approval in lung disease, melanoma, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.

Keenly awaited final-stage Phase III clinical trial results are also due for two high-risk, high-reward projects in heart disease and cancer, according to reports.

2013 is going to be a crucial year for GSK's pipeline, although the main impact on the sales line will be felt during 2014 and beyond - assuming the new medicines live up to expectations. 

Generic drug maker Perrigo announced today that it has bought privately held pet care brand Velcera in a deal worth $160 million.

The acquisition is the second in the animal healthcare market made by Perrigo in the past four months as it seeks to bring its successful over-the-counter model to pet care. Perrigo entered the animal healthcare market in September 2012 when it bought Sergeant’s Pet Care Products for $285 million.  

Perrigo, the world's largest manufacturer of over-the-counter drugs for the private label market, saw its shares rise by as much as seven percent in morning trading on the Nasdaq.

The deal comes just after Pfizer's animal health subsidiary Zoetis, raised a massive $2.2 billion during its IPO on Thursday.

Source: Reuters

The firm, which is headquartered in Mumbai released a statement saying that its subsidiary has received the green light for US Food and Drug Administration for its Doxorubicin HCI Liposome Injection.  

“This generic Doxorubicin HCl Liposome injection USP, 2 mg/ml is therapeutically equivalent to Doxil Liposome Injection, 2 mg/ml of Janssen Research and Development, LLC,” the company said.

Doxorubicin HCl liposome injection is used to treat patients with ovarian cancer, which has progressed or recurred after platinum-based chemotherapy.

Reacting to the development, shares of Sun Pharma were trading at Rs 745.70 on the BSE in afternoon trade, up 3.84 percent from their previous close. 

Medical Professionals Using Social Media

The medical professionals who embrace healthcare social media uses are likely to create deeper associations with their patients, which may result in greater patient loyalty and client retention and also increased referrals. They can also connect with the new patients when they share insight on the medical news, research developments and the new treatments within the public forum.  The ways in which the professionals are using these tools are as follows.

Facebook:  Some doctors prefer to keep their personal Facebook pages private and create a company or local business page. Whether you friend your patients or ask them to become fans, the social network Facebook makes it easy for them to tell others about your practice , which can lead to a new business. The promotions and contests are another way to build your following on this valuable social media site.

Twitter: The medical professionals can use Twitter to educate their current patient base and reach out to the new clients. They can also tweet about the new developments in the healthcare industry, exciting news around the office, success stories and also what the patients may find valuable or interesting.

Google+: The medical professionals can make use of Google+ for the virtual patient support groups and the educational offerings. The feature of hangout can enable upto ten individuals to interact through the live streaming video. This can also prove to be a convenient way for the doctors, nurses and the medical educators to interact with patients who do not need to be seen in the office.

LinkedIn: By joining the healthcare groups on this professional networking site can enable medical practioners to connect, share ideas and find information. The new service LinkedIn Today allows you to subscribe to news in your field and also customize your news feeds to the topics that are most relevant to you.

Pinterest: The newest of the social media sites that may have uses within the healthcare industry is Pinterest. It has recently reached 10 million subscribers. It is a very visual site. The users create boards upon which they pin images they have uploaded or found elsewhere on the web.

Importance of Social Media in Healthcare

There are a few ways that social media can be used by insurers, hospitals and doctors. These include events, health reminders,  and fund raising.

1. Events: The social networks like Facebook and Twitter are amazing ways to let your patients or the customers know of the forthcoming events. These events could include fund raisers to flu shot clinics to the schedule of the blood mobile. Another great way to keep in touch with patients include sending out a short tweet with the details and the link to your site or Facebook that has more in-depth information to keep in touch with patients and a way to remind them about the important events.
    
2. Fund raising: This can be an exciting way to make people aware of your fund raising efforts. If you are having a silent auction then you can tweet about the latest items up for bid. The fund raising dinners can be announced on your Facebook page or by Twitter.
    
3. Health reminders: This can be an amazing way to make your customers aware of the health issues. If you are having a clinic on how to keep your heart healthy or free blood pressure checks then it is a good way to remind your clients regarding health issues. Using tweets to remind the expectant mothers about the prenatal care can also save money and also prevent premature babies.
    
4. Managing your social media: After entering into the social media world, one has to realize that is a full time job. It is better to outsource your social media management to a third party company. These companies will take the information you send them and make sure your network is aware of what is happening on at your clinic or hospital.
    
5. Consultants: If you want to keep a watch of your social network in house, then one must consider appointing a consultant to train a staff member to take over the social networking duties.

It is essential to incorporate social networking as a part of the healthcare organization strategy. With the right application, the social networks hold a significant potential value for the healthcare businesses as they can be used to reach stakeholders, aggregate information and leverage the collaboration within the health sector globally.

Joey Jacobs, Chairman and CEO at Acadia, said, “Consistent with our acquisition strategy, we expect this transaction will be accretive to our financial results, and we further note that, with a license for 243 total beds, not all of which are currently in operation, the facility has significant opportunity for expansion.” Mr. Jacobs also said, “This purchase is the second Acadia has completed this year, and we continue to evaluate additional transactions in the fragmented and undeserved inpatient psychiatric market.”

The company said Bill Patterson, the group CEO of Acadia, will lead Delta’s transition into the company. Mr. Patterson is a 30-year old industry veteran who had earlier worked within Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp.

The stock of Acadia hit a 52-week high in the early January following its announcement it would acquire a 50-bed inpatient unit in Georgia Acadia specializing in administering behavioral health services in an inpatient setting and operates 45 facilities in 21 states. The purchase of Delta Medical Center gives it more than 3,600 total beds.

The purchase of Acadia is its first acquisition including an inpatient surgical component and the Memphis-based hospital its employee owned under an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

Acadia Healthcare is a provider of inpatient behavioral healthcare services. The company operates a network of 44 behavioral health facilities with more than 3,400 licensed beds in 21 states.