Noel Williams, chief information officer for the HCA hospital chain and president of the company's HCA Information Technology & Services Inc. subsidiary, plans to retire at the end of May. Williams has spent more than 30 years with Nashville-based HCA. Williams' responsibilities include overseeing the hospital chain's information technology strategy and operations of its IT system services and delivering IT services to the chain's hospitals and more than 120 non-HCA hospitals and facilities. She leads a staff of more than 3,000 employees nationwide.
Marcia Crim, RN, BSN, MS, has been appointed chief executive officer for USMD Hospital at Arlington. She will continue to carry the title of CNO, a position she has held since 2008, as well as retain her position as vice president of development for USMD Hospital Division. Crim succeeds Karen Fiducia, FACHE, who has been interim-CEO since 2008. Fiducia will continue in her role as President of USMD Hospital Division. Crim has been with USMD since 2006. She has served in capacities that range from staff nurse to CEO.
UHC has appointed Scott Glasrud as executive vice president and chief operating officer, effective May 1, 2012. Glasrud has more than 30 years of experience in the health care industry and spent the last 15 years as the CFO at The University of Kansas Hospital. Prior to joining The University of Kansas Hospital, Glasrud held leadership positions at Mercy Health Services in Des Moines, Iowa, Ernst & Young, and Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers). He has served on several boards, including REACH Healthcare Foundation and the Audit Committee of the American Heart Association.
WellPoint Inc., the largest U.S. health insurer by enrollment, will tie the amount of money doctors receive to the quality of care provided, offering more pay for keeping patients healthier and costs down. The program, which increases the payout to primary care doctors by 10 percent, also will aim to enhance information sharing and provide support from WellPoint clinical workers, the Indianapolis-based company said in a statement today. The change increases WellPoint's overall medical spending by 1 percent and may help attract new members, said Jill Hummel, the company's vice president of payment innovation.
A class-action lawsuit by former St. Joseph's Hospital employees against the hospital's former parent company is expected to be settled, according to the plaintiffs' attorneys. George Cosenza and Ginny Conley, representing the plaintiffs in the class action suit, announced Saturday a settlement has been reached with Signature Hospital Corporation on the issue of the loss of accrued benefits.
The legal bees may be busy at the U.S. Supreme Court preparing for March's oral arguments over the legality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but there's no question that health-care reform so far has been good for the major players of the health-care industry. Notwithstanding a fourth quarter that was less profitable than expected, health insurer WellPoint Inc. said Tuesday that it netted about $2.6 billion in 2011, the first full year since the Affordable Care Act became law. A week earlier, UnitedHealth Group Inc., the nation's largest health insurance provider, said it took in more than $100 billion in 2011 and had more than $5.1 billion left in net income.