News in brief - March 6, 2006

Aetna joins quality pay program - HMA pulls out of Ga. hospital deal

Aetna joins quality pay program

Bridges to Excellence, a pay-for-performance program that offers financial rewards to physicians for meeting certain quality and safety standards in health care, has gained another partner.

This month Aetna announced that it was entering into a licensing agreement with the nonprofit coalition of physicians, health plans and some of the nation's largest employers, including Procter & Gamble, Humana, Ford Motor Co. and General Electric.

Aetna said it plans to incorporate Bridges to Excellence methodology into its pay-for-performance strategy and programs in various markets across the country. Already Aetna participates in programs in Cincinnati and Louisville, Ky.

HMA pulls out of Ga. hospital deal

Hospital operator Health Management Associates has backed out of a deal to buy St. Joseph Hospital in Augusta, Ga., saying the hospital's performance has declined since the agreement was first reached.

An e-mail dated Feb. 13 from HMA General Counsel Timothy Parry to the Georgia attorney general's office said the company was withdrawing from the deal because the 231-bed hospital "has experienced significant deterioration in its operating performance including adverse changes in physician referral practices."

An HMA official said he could not comment further because of a confidentiality agreement.

The Naples, Fla.-based operator of mostly rural and suburban acute care hospitals announced in December 2005 that it had reached a nonbinding agreement to buy St. Joseph, saying the hospital was in an "attractive" and rapidly growing market. The deal was reportedly worth $75 million.

Officials with Ascension Health, the owner of St. Joseph, said they were "surprised and extremely disappointed" when they received notification of HMA's decision to back out of the deal just hours before the state attorney general was to hold a public hearing on the sale.