News in brief - Aug. 7, 2006

Mass. insurer teams with United - MGMA weighs in on transparency - WebMD acquires Medsite - EMR companies merge

Mass. insurer teams with United

Regional health insurer Harvard Pilgrim Health Care has teamed up with national insurance giant UnitedHealth Group to offer insurance plans to local companies with employees based in other states.

The move fueled speculation among industry experts about UnitedHealth's interest in acquiring the regional insurer, but Harvard Pilgrim CEO Charles Baker said UnitedHealth has no interest in acquiring the company.

The new plan will be marketed under the names Choice Plus and Options. UnitedHealth will provide claims processing and computer systems, while Harvard Pilgrim will provide the networks and member services. The plans will be available starting Jan. 1, 2007.

With nearly 1 million members, the Massachusetts-based firm is the state's second-largest insurer.

This isn't the first time Harvard Pilgrim and UnitedHealth have joined forces to offer insurance plans.

In January 2005, Harvard Pilgrim began offering plans to national accounts in conjunction with UnitedHealth. With about 54,000 members, the plan, called Passport, is offered in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Unlike Choice Plus and Options, where Harvard Pilgrim takes a more hands-on approach, UnitedHealth handles most of the service functions for the Passport plan.

MGMA weighs in on transparency

The Medical Group Management Assn. has joined other leading organizations to adopt policies spelling out how it believes greater transparency can be achieved in health care.

In two position papers issued June 28, MGMA gave its first formal opinions about how to facilitate the movement toward more transparency.

In one opinion, MGMA said greater pricing transparency could be achieved if health plans are required to release detailed fee schedules and grant physicians and hospitals permission to release that information. In the other, the Englewood, Colo.-based association said that quality improvement programs initiated outside of medical practices should follow several guidelines, including allowing practice leaders to review performance profiles before they are made public.

In May, the American Hospital Assn. adopted policy calling for states to work with their hospital associations to make hospital charge information available. The American Medical Association has several policies encouraging physicians to provide patients with adequate fee information and supporting the idea that more pricing information will lead to better decision-making in health care.

WebMD acquires Medsite

WebMD Health Corp. announced July 20 that it has agreed to acquire Medsite Inc., a provider of electronic detailing services to physicians, for $41 million in cash.

The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2006. WebMD said the deal would allow the company to provide its pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers with more ways to "complement their direct physician detailing efforts."

EMR companies merge

EncounterCare Solutions Inc. announced July 12 that it signed a letter of intent to acquire JMJ Technologies Inc., an Atlanta-based vendor of electronic medical records software that is used by 900 physicians around the country. Terms of the proposed acquisition, which is expected to close by Aug. 13, were not disclosed. EncounterCare, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., sells software to the home care and hospital markets.