People in the news Active Services Opens Center Active Services Corp, Birmingham, Ala, opened an adult day health center in Brownsville, Ky, in April. The Brownsville Active Day Center will help elderly and disabled adults with health problems such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and diabetes maintain their independence in the community. Services will include nursing and personal care, therapeutic activities, socialization with peers, fitness program, and nutritious meals and snacks. The Adult Day Health Center at Wellington Parc was consolidated with the new facility. Digital Hospital on the Horizon HealthSouth Corp, Birmingham, Ala, and software provider Oracle Corp, Redwood Shores, Calif, have plans to build the first all-digital, automated hospital by late 2003. The 500,000-sq-ft, 219-bed facility will include beds with display screens connected to the Internet, electronic medical records storage, digital imaging instead of traditional x-ray film, and a wireless communications network. HealthSouth expects to spend $100 million to $125 million over 24 to 32 months for constructing and equipping the hospital, which will be built near HealthSouth’s 92-acre campus in suburban Birmingham. The groundbreaking is scheduled for the first quarter of 2002. AmeriSource Health, Bergen Brunswig Merge In March, AmeriSource Health Corp, Valley Forge, Pa, and Bergen Brunswig Corp, Orange, Calif, announced a $7 billion merger of equals. The stock-for-stock transaction will create a new company, AmeriSource-Bergen Corp, with approximately $35 billion in annual operating revenue. The new company headquarters will be in Valley Forge, while the West Coast management center will be in Orange. R. David Yost, chairman and CEO of AmeriSource, will become CEO and president of AmeriSource-Bergen. PTPN Signs Contracts in the West PTPN, Calabasas, Calif, a national outpatient rehabilitation network, signed contracts with Health Net of California and Mountain Medical Affiliates in Colorado. With Health Net of California, PTPN will provide outpatient rehabilitation services for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy to more than 350,000 preferred provider organization, point-of-service, health maintenance organization, and workers’ compensation members in California. For Mountain Medical Affiliates, PTPN will provide outpatient rehabilitation services for members of its group health, workers’ compensation, and auto injury plans. USPH Income Jumps 125% Net income for US Physical Therapy (USPH), Houston, increased 125% from $671,000 in the first quarter of 2000 to $1,512,000 in the first quarter ended March 31, 2000. Net revenues for the first quarter rose 28% to $18,930,000 from $14,822,000 in 2000. USPH attributes the increase to a 25% rise in patient visits. The company also recently released its annual report for the year 2000. Health Net, MyoPoint Target Pain management Health Net of California, Woodland Hills, Calif, and MyoPoint, San Diego, have partnered to provide pain management services to more than 2.4 million Health Net members. Under the agreement, MyoPoint will provide information and recommendations to Health Net members and their physicians to assist them in making informed decisions regarding the diagnosis, available tests, and potential treatment of their pain conditions. Health Net patients will have access to MyoPoint’s Web site where they can identify the source of their pain and learn techniques to manage it. MyoPoint also manages habit-forming pain medications for prescribing physicians who are concerned about the risks of tolerance and addiction. Mergers and Acquisitions Slow in First Quarter Mergers and acquisitions in the health care industry declined 23% in the first quarter of 2001 from the last quarter of 2000, according to a report from Irving Levin Associates, New Canaan, Conn. There were 184 deals in the first quarter of 2001, compared with 238 in the previous quarter. However, the 2001 Health Care Mergers and Acquisitions Report shows that the technology segment continued to account for 75% of the total $20.8 billion spent in these deals, virtually level with the 74% of the $28.6 billion spent in the fourth quarter of 2000. The rehabilitation segment reported three deals this quarter, as opposed to two deals in the last quarter of 2000. The most deals occurred in hospitals, with 21. Laboratories, at 18, and physician medical groups, with 15, rounded off the top three. The home health industry announced seven deals during the first quarter. Preferred Therapy Providers, Scottsdale, Ariz, named Kathee Bach director of contracts.
