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Health Care: Consultants Boyd & Nicholas acquired

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Simione Healthcare Consultants, a Conn.-based consulting firm in home health and hospice care, announced that it acquired Boyd & Nicholas, Inc. itself a health care consulting firm based in Rohnert Park that was co-founded by Thomas Boyd and Thomas Nicholas.

The acquisition combines the two teams and opens a formal West Coast operation for Simione, which focuses on operations, finance, compliance, sales and marketing, technology and mergers and acquisitions.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

We are delighted to welcome the Boyd & Nicholas team to further improve clinical and financial performance for our nations home health and hospice providers, Robert Simione, managing principal at Simione, said in a statement. Cost reporting remains a cornerstone on which Simione was founded, and our joining together will enhance access to expertise as challenges continue to increase for home health and hospice organizations. We believe this partnership will help more health providers minimize risk and eliminate barriers to financial success at a time when increasing demands threaten the livelihood of so many home care and hospice organizations.

Boyd & Nicholas has specialized in cost report preparation, a requirement for home health agencies receiving Medicare reimbursements, financial analysis, accounting and due diligence since 1993. Mr. Boyd will join Simione as vice president of reimbursable services, with nearly four decades of Medicare reimbursement expertise, including 12 years with a Medicare intermediary for home health providers. A frequent national and state speaker, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2013 National Association for Home Care and Hospice Financial Managers Conference. He is a member of the Home Care and Hospice Financial Managers Association.

Simione Healthcare Consultants, founded in 1966 and based in Hamden, operates in 23 states, providing business solutions for the home health and hospice industry. It includes performance improvement across the health care landscape, ranging from hospitals, health networks and agencies for more effective delivery of home health and hospice care. More than 1,000 organizations use Simiones services, the company said.

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Santa Rosa-based Oakmont Senior Living is highlighting the recent opening of The Terraces, which it said creates new care options for regional families with loved ones afflicted by Alzheimers and other forms of dementia.

The 33-unit community in Santa Rosa, located on the recently opened, $52 million Fountaingrove Lodge retirement campus, offers a continuum of specialized memory care services designed to meet the physical, emotional, cognitive and social needs of individuals with early to advanced stages of memory loss, according to Oakmont.

Oakmont Senior Living said the number of individuals with memory loss disorders continues to escalate each year, creating demand for specialized care that effectively handles patients conditions as memory, judgment and reasoning skills decline. Many forms of dementia are degenerative; and as symptoms become more severe, drastic behavioral changes set in and the ability to perform daily living activities deteriorates, according to Oakmont.

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Health Care: Consultants Boyd & Nicholas acquired

Universal health care is a necessity

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Written by: Yamini Piplani on June 1, 2009.

Health care should be matter of logic, not politics

Illustration by Jorge Labrador

Most of us wouldnt need to glance at the plethora of available statistics to agree that the health care system in the U.S. is in a sad state.

This is because so many of us have either personally experienced or have seen someone we know being failed by our health care system. It is unfortunate that health care reform has been a matter of politically-biased debate for years, as the health of American citizens should be the first and foremost priority of any political party.

People are suffering across party lines whether Republican, Democrat or something else, stories of people being ill-served by their insurance or being denied treatments, to the detriment of their long-term health, are overly common.

Though I am one of the 46 million Americans lacking health insurance, until now I had been fortunate enough not to have had any horrible experiences with health care. I had only read in articles, learned through research or heard strangers horror stories about our handicapped health care system.

Recently, my grandmother was told by an ophthalmologist in the U.S. that she needed cataract surgery, but that it would be two weeks until her next eye exam, a few more days until she got her results back and then her surgery would be scheduled a couple weeks later. In all, it would take about one month for her to regain her vision.

But in three weeks my grandmother was going to India she had already booked a flight a couple months ago. Her doctor here told her the surgery wasnt an emergency and that it could be done when she returned or, if my grandmother preferred, she could have her eye surgery done in India.

When she landed in India, she set up an appointment with an eye doctor for the next day. Her basic check-up along with all her exams were done within a few hours, she had her exam results back in another two hours and her eye surgery was scheduled for the next morning. Within 24 hours of her first visit, she had her vision back quicker and much cheaper.

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Universal health care is a necessity

Health care providers must exhibit professionalism – DCE

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Health News of Monday, 17 February 2014

Source: GNA

The Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa (AOB) District Chief Executive (DCE) Mr. Samuel Adom Botchway has called on health care providers to be professional in their work.

He said the sick need their care, compassion, empathy and above all their love to survive.

Mr. Botchway made the call in a speech delivered on his behalf by the Deputy Coordination Director of AOB Assembly at a forum, as part of celebrations marking the 22nd World Sick Day by Management and staff of Our Lady of Grace Hospital at Breman Asikuma.

He said health is the pivot upon which a mans whole personality and well-being depends and that, a healthy person is an asset to himself, his family and the society as a whole.

According to the DCE unhealthy person saps the enthusiasm for pursuit, saying that unwholesome feeling and sensations retard the peace of functional activity, economic development and spiritual upliftment.

Mr. Botchway said It is the sick and the weak that needs us most and as people, let us always extend a helping hand to the sick and weak as well as the aged for that matters most.

He said the doors of the Assembly are always open and would continue its quest to support health providers in the district to give off their best to the sick.

A message from the Pope, read by Reverend Father Oteng-Dumfeh of the Breman Asikuma Catholic Church, drew the attention to the fact that when people draw nearer with tender love to others in need of care they bring hope and smiles to the contradictions of the world.

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Health care providers must exhibit professionalism - DCE

Sunrise health care firm aims to cut Medicaid costs

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Sunshine Health, a Sunrise managed health-care company that was a big winner in Florida's long-term care contracts last year, is doubling its workforce in South Florida to provide services to low-income seniors and the disabled.

The company said it is on a mission to provide improved health care to the low-income and disabled communities at a reduced cost to government.

Preventative care is the key, said Chris Paterson, chief executive for Sunrise-based Sunshine Health.

"We try to identify members who will need more help than others," he said.

Sunshine Health, which also provides other Medicaid services, has a total of 215,000 residents under its care in the state, with one-third of them in South Florida.

In 2013, the company bid and won contracts for 10 of the 11 regions in the state, including Broward and Palm Beach counties. It will share in providing long-term care for the approximately 90,000 residents eligible for Medicaid services.

In total, Sunshine has won $16 billion worth of contracts over five years to provide medical assistance and long-term care to Florida's Medicaid population, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration said.

To expand its services, Sunshine Health is hiring up to 800 nurses, social workers and other health care professionals in South Florida. They will be mostly in the field providing services such as nursing, medication management or physical therapy.

Another 600 specialists for Cenpatico, a behavioral and foster care company owned by the same parent firm, will be hired over the next six months, the company said.

Sunshine Health uses a cost-reduction model for providing health-care services developed by parent firm Centene Corp., which operates in nearly 20 states. The St. Louis-based Fortune 500 company is known for its proprietary database called "Centelligence" that helps predict the likelihood a patient will need costly hospital or emergency care.

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Sunrise health care firm aims to cut Medicaid costs

How Health Care ETFs Can Strengthen Your Portfolio

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NEW YORK (FMD Capital Management) -- Health care has been on a major hot streak for well over a year now. The combination of our aging population and strong demand for medical services has boosted the prices of health care stocks to fantastic levels. When you think about the path of Obamacare, shifting demographic trends, and future innovation in drugs and procedures, it becomes clear that the outlook in this sector is very bright.

There are a variety of ways that you can capitalize on the rising trend of health care companies in this country. Many people prefer to choose individual stocks because of their research and belief in a specific businesses outlook. My preferred choice is to select a basket of stocks that offer access to a wide swath of industries that are focused in multiple areas.

There is no easier way to do this than through a low-cost exchange-traded fund. However, picking the right exchange-traded fund is all about understanding the underlying holdings, fees, and index construction in order to successfully navigate this crowded field. It is important to understand what you own and how it will adapt to changing market conditions.

The most widely held ETF in this sector is the Healthcare Select Sector SPDR (XLV), which contains 56 large-cap companies primarily engaged in the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and medical provider fields. XLV controls nearly $9 billion in total assets and charges a modest expense ratio of just 0.16%. In 2013, this ETF gained 41.21%, which handily beat the 32.13% return of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).

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How Health Care ETFs Can Strengthen Your Portfolio

New director for rural health care collaboration

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Western Washington Rural Health Care Collaborative has hired a new permanent executive director, announced Rene Jensen, CEO of Summit Pacific Medical Center and Chairwoman of the Western Washington Rural Health Care Collaborative.

Holly Greenwood started in the position Jan. 1. She previously held a part-time contracted position through CHOICE Regional Health Network.

The Western Washington Rural Health Care Collaborative has been in existence since 2003 and currently consists of 12 Critical Access Hospitals, all separately governed serving rural areas in Washington State. It has been the recipient of several federal grants and has deployed grant funds to their hospitals, helping provide access to specialists and specialty care.

Since Sept. 2012, Greenwood has served a dual role as the Executive Director for Western Washington Rural Heath Care Collaborative and as deputy director of CHOICE Regional Health Network. Under her leadership the Collaborative has expanded from 10 to 12 hospitals and has undertaken several new key initiatives, including assuming the lead for joint contracting and negotiating for 19 PHD hospitals, Health Information Exchange and actively supporting the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Considering the results of the last year and the work ahead, it only made sense to secure all of Hollys time moving forward, Jensen said.

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New director for rural health care collaboration


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