In Brief: USC Acquires Verdugo Hills Medical Center; Five Fired In Cedars-Sinai Breach
USC Purchaes Verdugo Hills Medical Center
The University of Southern California closed a deal on Tuesday to purchase the 158-bed Verdugo Hills Medical Center in Glendale for an undisclosed sum.
Verdugo Hills is the third hospital in the USC system, which also includes Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital, both near downtown Los Angeles. USC purchased those two properties from Tenet Healthcare Corp. in 2009.
“USC and Verdugo Hills Hospital both have long and enduring histories of providing vital medical care to our local communities,” said USC President C. L. Max Nikias. “By joining forces, we will significantly strengthen both of our organizations, and we will find innovative new ways to deliver the very best patient care to the people of the Foothills and throughout Southern California.”
Steven T. Valentine, president of The Camden Group, an El Segundo-based healthcare consulting firm and a member of the Payers & Providers editorial board, noted that the deal gives USC a low cost provider with obstetric services, which it currently does not offer. Verdugo's primary care physician base could also make referrals to USC's two downtown-area hospitals.
USC has pledged to spend $30 million in capital improvements at the Verdugo campus.
Five Fired In Cedars-Sinai Breach
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has fired five employees and a student research assistant for inappropriately accessing patient records last month.
The hospital did not disclose the nature of the incident, but Kim Kardashian gave birth at Cedars-Sinai on June 15. The records breach occurred three days later. Five of those fired look at a single record, while the sixth looked at 14 separate records, the hospital reported.
Inappropriate access of patient records is both a federal crime and a state crime under California law, although prosecutions rarely occur unless the person who committed the breach is doing so for personal profit.
DMHC Says Covered California Rates Are Reasonable
The California Department of Managed Health Care has declared that the rates of the 13 plans that will offer policies to individuals in the Covered California health insurance exchange are reasonable.
Covered California announced the plan's anticipated rates last spring, and industry observers said they were surprisingly low in many instances. Enrollment through Covered California begins on Oct. 1, with coverage effective on Jan. 1.
“DMHC actuaries carefully reviewed the proposed rate filings from each of 13 qualified health plans that will offer coverage. Upon close scrutiny, the DMHC found that the plans have justified their proposed premium rates,” said DMHC Director Brent Barnhart.
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has yet to chime in on the Covered California rates. Jones tends to only make an announcement if a rate or rate increase is considered unreasonable by his agency.
