News in brief - March 8, 2004

Physician investor ousted as hospital chief - Ill. seeks coverage for trainers

Physician investor ousted as hospital chief

The election of a cardiologist to serve as chief of internal medicine at a Milwaukee-area hospital was overturned by the hospital's board of directors because the physician is an investor in an area specialty hospital.

Lisa Armaganian, MD, won January's vote by the medical staff at West Allis Memorial Hospital, but the board overrode the election, which it had the power to do under hospital bylaws. The board said Dr. Armaganian's investment in The Wisconsin Heart Hospital, which is partly owned by a competing health system, presented a conflict of interest. An administrator even had asked the physician to take her name off the ballot before the election.

But Dr. Armaganian, and some critics, saw it differently.

"I didn't feel there was a conflict, and that's why I didn't take my name off the ballot," she said. "The responsibilities of the position are to improve [the] quality of medicine and working with colleagues. I didn't feel like I was going to be involved in the business aspect of the hospital."

The dispute at West Allis is purely a business matter, said hospital spokesman Steve Pinzer. "It's not about her as a physician or an individual. It's about her ownership in a competing hospital," he said.

Ill. seeks coverage for trainers

A bill has been introduced in the Illinois General Assembly that would require health plans to pay for the services of certified athletic trainers who help patients recover from sports injuries.

The bill would require that any managed care plan or group or individual insurance policy that is amended, renewed or issued after the bill passes must pay for care given by athletic trainers if the treatment was ordered by a physician.

The legislation is being sponsored by state Rep. Naomi Jakobsson. She told the News-Gazette of Champaign, Ill., that even though the work athletic trainers do is medically necessary, some health plans refuse to cover it unless a physician is actually present during the rehab.

The bill is being opposed by the Illinois Assn. of Health Plans, which claims that any government-mandated health insurance coverage will cause premiums to rise.