News

01/13/2020 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Physicians

Expert: When Physician Real Estate Owners Should Buy and Sell

Dallas-Fort Worth is a unique market for physician real estate owners. The city’s growing population affords the benefits of a primary market, allowing a practice to operate in a large medical office building in a densely populated area alongside a major freeway all while creating synergies with neighboring providers. However, given DFW is less dense than other major metropolitan areas like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York, providers here have a unique opportunity.  Physician groups can actually build their own facility at a reasonable price, allowing them to offer comprehensive services under one roof, providing a more convenient and… Full Story

01/13/2020 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Innovation

Pieces Technologies Raises $25.7 Million in Effort to Address Social Determinants of Health

Healthcare artificial intelligence and technology company Pieces Technologies has raised $25.7 million in funding from healthcare-focused investment firm Concord Health. The company developed platforms to address the social determinants of health and power clinical analytics, helping connect providers with community service providers. Clients include hospitals, health systems, community clinics, food banks, job assistance, and educational services. The technology analyzes real-time patient information to connect health systems with community organizations to improve patient outcomes. The technology has enabled a half-day reduction in hospital stays and a reduction in readmissions to the hospital where it has been deployed, which include Children’s Health… Full Story

01/10/2020 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Pharmaceuticals

McKesson Renews Distribution Contract with VA

McKesson Corp.’s deal to be the primary pharmaceutical supplier for the Department of Veterans Affairs has been renewed for the next two years. The Irving-based pharmaceutical distribution company will continue their partnership with the nation’s largest integrated healthcare system. McKesson will supply all the VA medical centers and clinics as well as their outpatient pharmacies, which include 750 locations and 270 medical centers. The distributor is the largest non-defense vendor serving the VA, Department of Defense, and other government branches. “McKesson has had the privilege of supporting the VA as their prime pharmaceutical supplier since 2004,” said Brian Tyler, McKesson’s… Full Story

01/10/2020 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Population Health

Texas Improves Three Spots to 34th in the American Health Rankings

Texas moved up and is the 34th healthiest state in the latest American Health Rankings from UnitedHealthcare, but the improvement might have little to do with healthier people in Texas. Part of the improvement is because other states’ health is declining at a faster rate than the Lone Star State. That isn’t to say Texas was without bright spots. The report notes that Texas’ high school graduation rate, low smoking rates, decreased violent crime, improved birthweight and increased number of mental health providers helped boost its ranking from 37 to 34 this year. But in several other important health measures,… Full Story

01/10/2020 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Home Health

THR, Methodist, and LHC Group Purchase Arlington Home Health Provider

DFW Home Health will be purchasing Arlington-based home health provider Healthcare Resources. DFW Home Health has been jointly owned by LHC Group, Texas Health Resources and North Texas Health Facilities Management, a subsidiary of Methodist Health System since 2012. The organization provides home health for 25 hospitals and in 2019 will serve 8,000 patients throughout North Texas. The country’s aging population has made home health a growth area, and keeping patients in their homes is both more comfortable for the patient and less costly for the health system overall. But many of the home health providers are retiring just as… Full Story

01/9/2020 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Research

SMU Research Could Change the Way Diabetes is Treated

Diabetes and pre-diabetes affect an astonishing 43 percent of the country’s population at a cost of $237 billion in treatment and $90 billion per year in indirect costs such as absenteeism. The U.S. spends more treating diabetes than the entire GDP of Portugal. The earlier the disease is caught, the more likely treatment costs will be kept down. But testing is expensive and time consuming, so providers need to be wise about who they test. Usually, the patients who receive a diabetes test already have a symptom, meaning the chances of reversal are low and treatment costs are more likely… Full Story

01/9/2020 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Real Estate

Richardson Office Building Acquired by Methodist Health System

A real estate holding company owned by Methodist Health system has acquired a 120,000-square-foot medical office building in Richardson adjacent to the Methodist Richardson Medical Center. Holding company Pavilion Properties acquired the building from Pillar Commercial who just acquired the building in August of this year. Methodist Richardson Medical Center recently expanded by adding two floors and a parking garage to the existing medical center. Said Manny Ybarra, president of Pillar Commercial via release, “MRMC is a premier hospital system dedicated to the health of our community; and this acquisition allows them to extend their reach to residents in Richardson… Full Story

01/9/2020 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Hospitals

JPS Health Network Names New COO

Pediatrician Dr. Karen Duncan will be the JPS Health Network’s Chief Operating Officer. She brings more than 20 years of clinical and executive leadership experience to the role. Duncan previously served as Executive Vice President of Community Health Services of JPS, which she assumed in 2017. She will officially take over at the end of the January for Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Bill Whitman when he retires. “With a background in pediatrics and years of executive roles, she has devoted her professional life to the improvement of public hospitals across the country, and she has done… Full Story

01/8/2020 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Nonprofits

HMS and CitySquare Partner to Give Back

Dallas-based healthcare analytics company HMS is in the giving spirit this holiday season, partnering with CitySquare to the tune of a $15,000 donation and a volunteer day with 50 employees packing 15,000 meals to feed the hungry. “As a mission-driven organization, HMS strongly supports the hard work that CitySquare does every day on the front lines of fighting poverty and addressing the wellness needs of the whole person,” said Meredith Bjorck, chief legal officer for HMS via release. “We are proud to partner with an organization that shares so many synergies with our overall mission of making the healthcare system… Full Story

01/8/2020 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Population Health

Do Texas Voters Care About Healthcare?

Texas and the surrounding states make up the region that is least likely to vote for a candidate based on their healthcare agenda, according to PwC’s annual report about the top issues in the healthcare industry. For many of the other questions in the survey about diversity of workforce and the impact of healthcare mergers, Texas’ region fell at or near the middle. For a state as big and diverse as Texas, being in the middle makes sense, says Ben Isgur, leader of PwC’s Health Research Institute. But  North Texas is on the extreme when it comes to price and uninsured… Full Story