My selection of industri news

Hospital management company Tenet Healthcare Corp. announced their intentions to merge North Shore Medical Center and Florida Medical Center. The merger of the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based FMC and Miami-based NSMC will be effective June 1. Meanwhile both hospitals will continue operations throughout the entire transition period. On a positive note for employees of both hospitals, Tenet said that they do not see a need to reduce services at either of the hospitals.
The merger will be beneficial for Tenet as they will be able to integrate back-office operations for both hospitals. At the same time, doctors of both units will be able to work with patients of both hospitals, creating a unified physician credentialing initiative.

LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. has begun making moves to respond to the current uncertainty of the market. The company has decided that the best way to do so is to restructure the company, and to have the changes begin from the very top. Former LifePoint Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer David M. Dill has been reassigned as the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Taking his place is current Vice President and Treasurer of Tenet Healthcare, Jeffrey Sherman. The two men will report to Lifepoint’s President and Chief Executive Officer, William F. Carpenter III.
Both Dill’s internal mastery and Sherman’s external experience will be vital for the corporation’s overall operations as they attempt to maneuver themselves through the troubled economic market.

Former Tenet Healthcare Regional Compliance Director Lea Fourkiller has been appointed as the new Chief Complaince Officer for Conifer Health Solutions, Inc. Fourkiller was with Tenet for several years where she was assigned to oversee compliance programs of at least 13 hospitals. Before Tenet, Fourkiller was already a compliance officer for other hospitals in areas such as Cherokee, N.C., and Dallas, Texas. Her Alma Matter is the University of Tulsa/College of law and she was part of the 1988 Oklahoma Bar.
In Conifer, Fourkiller will lead compliance programs for both Conifer Patient Communications, Inc., and Conifer Revenue Cycle Solutions, Inc. Stephen M. Mooney, President of Conifer Revenue Cycle Solutions, states that Fourkiller’s expertise in the compliance area will be integral to the company’s operations, citing her “robust” and “comprehensive” compliance program.

Texas-based hospital operating company Tenet Healthcare has struck a deal with health care benefits organization Aetna, Inc. The contract stipulates that at least 400 Tenet-employed doctors will be used by Aetna for their various health plan networks. Tenet confirmed Aetna’s intentions to use these doctors in the health care insurance company’s provider networks. The doctors are mostly part of Tenet’s Physician business but have a wide range of specialties such as internal medicine, family practice, and surgical specialties.
Although the deal seems to be beneficial for both parties, the US stock exchange does not seem to agree. Tenet’s shares rose 3.9 percent, or 4 cents, to $1.06 while Aetna’s stock fell 2.5%, or 61 cents, to $23.75. We will all just have to wait and see how this deal will affect both companies in the long run.