News in brief - Nov. 28, 2005

UAW approves GM health cuts - Latest privacy breach: Ohio State - WebMD Health makes acquisition - Health tech firm looks for new CEO

UAW approves GM health cuts

United Auto Workers members at General Motors ratified a deal that would cut the company's contribution to its health benefits, the union said Nov. 11. GM had come to the union with the request to have union members and certain retirees pay a greater share of their health costs as a way to stem losses at the automaker. The deal is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. GM expects the cuts to save it $1 billion annually and cut its long-term health care commitment by $15 billion. But analysts say much more cost-cutting must come at the Detroit-based automaker, which has lost nearly $4 billion this year.

Latest privacy breach: Ohio State

The personal information of 2,800 patients of The Ohio State University Medical Center was inadvertently posted online, the Columbus Dispatch newspaper reported. The breach of privacy affected only patients who had scheduled or changed appointments on April 19, 2004. A file with names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and the reason for the appointments was posted online. The medical center took it down after learning about the problem in late October. The medical center has notified patients, informing them that it will pay for the cost of enrolling them in a credit-protection service for one year.

WebMD Health makes acquisition

WebMD Health Corp. announced Nov. 1 that it agreed to acquire Conceptis Technologies for $19 million in cash. WebMD, which operates health information portals for physicians and consumers, said the acquisition of Conceptis will strengthen its offering to cardiologists. Montreal-based Conceptis provides online and offline information to health care professionals.

Health tech firm looks for new CEO

First Consulting Group has begun a search for a new chief executive officer after Luther J. Nussbaum resigned Nov. 4 as its chair, CEO and director. The health care information technology consulting and services company in Long Beach, Calif., which did not offer an explanation for Nussbaum's resignation, named president Steven Heck interim CEO and director Douglas G. Bergeron chair.