Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal • January 19, 2015 www.wbjournal.com E arlier this month, the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) released its inaugural report measuring the performance of the Massachusetts health care system between 2011 and 2013, with a focus on provider quality. The report is meant to provide a baseline for annual reporting, CHIA said. The report measured quality in acute care, primary care and post-acute care, and found that performance on many measures falls in line with national rates, though "there are large differences between the highest and lowest scores received by providers on some mea- sures, suggesting variation in provider quality." How do hospitals, or acute-care providers, rate? The report notes that after the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) began offering incen- tives to hospitals for reporting data on quality mea- sures, hospital quality in many areas has improved and disparities between state and national performances have narrowed. This may be why Massachusetts hospi- tals' performance on 16 clinical processes was "strong and virtually the same as national performance." According to CHIA data, Massachusetts hospitals are becoming safer. Scores that measure the rate of procedural and post-surgical complications in acute- care hospitals fell from 0.92 to 0.74 (the lower the score, the better), below the U.S. mean of 1. What about readmissions? Here, the hospitals have work to do. With 80 percent of acute care hospitals hit with CMS penalties for "excessive unplanned readmissions" last year, the Bay State is the fourth most penalized state, the report said. CHIA suggested that proper planning and changes in delivery of care, such as extending after-hours ambula- tory care services, may help cut the rates. The national mean for Medicare patients from 2011 to 2012 was 16 percent, according to data cited by CHIA. Rates at 28 of the 63 Massachusetts hospitals analyzed were higher. And what about primary care? Experts often point to a primary-care physician short- age as a key hindrance to quality care. That's highlighted in the report, which includes survey data on patient experiences with physicians. Organizational access, which gauges satisfaction in appointment scheduling, received a score of 81 out of 100, the lowest among six measures. Patients were most satisfied with the quality of communication with doctors (94). That was followed by willingness to recommend their providers to others (91). How about post-acute care? While CHIA called home health care a "convenient, lower-cost alternative to care in a hospital or nursing home," the high cost of skilled nursing facilities in Massachusetts was cited as a major factor in the indus- try's high per-capita spending; in 2009, costs at those facilities' were 74 percent higher than the national aver- age, CHIA reported. n WORCESTER — The chief executive of Reliant Medical Group will step down at the end of February to pursue other opportunities, the Worcester- based organization announced. A statement from Reliant said Dr. Armin Ernst will look for new work in his medical specialty, pulmonology, but will stay on as a consultant through the end of February. Dr. Leon Josephs, chairman of Reliant's board, will take over as interim CEO, the statement said. He has been with the group for 14 years as its chief of general and vascular surgery. He will retain his role as board chairman. WORCESTER — Becker College has received a $1 million gift from alumna and former Southwest Airlines President Colleen Barrett that will go toward the school's Center for Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The donation is the largest from any indi- vidual donor in the history of the Worcester school, and the center will be named after the 1964 graduate, according to a statement from Becker. The Center for Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship will serve as the focal point for the school's ongoing focus on innovation, according to offi- cials, and host summer programs, workshops and boot camps. Doctors Express, an urgent-care franchise with locations in Central Massachusetts, will offer health care to patients of physicians who belong to the Worcester-based Central Massachusetts Independent Physicians Association under a new partnership that both organizations said will improve access to urgent care. Jim Brennan, CEO of Medvest LLC, the master developer of Doctors Express in the New England region, said the deal is similar to one Medvest recently signed with Boston-based Steward Health Care. Both partnerships allow patients to receive insured care at any Massachusetts Doctors Express loca- tion. WORCESTER — Two teams of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute recently received Rapid Response Research awards from the National Science Foundation to devel- op technologies to help protect work- ers caring for patients with the Ebola virus and other infectious diseases. The first award of $200,000 will fund the development of a new type of "smart" mobile treatment tent, while the second, $75,000, will aid those working directly with patients, WPI said in a statement. The treatment tent will incorporate a host of smart tech- nologies to improve the delivery of care — and decrease the risk of con- tamination — for patients and clini- cians. GRAFTON — The Grafton News and its website are being bought by the Holden Landmark Corp., publisher of several Central Massachusetts news- papers and websites. The sale is expected to close at the end of January. The weekly newspaper, published by Grafton News Holdings LLC, announced the sale on its website. The statement said the Grafton News will continue to be published weekly, and its website will continue to handle breaking news and updates. Landmark owner Kirk A. Davis said in the state- ment: "A significant investment in the paper and website is planned." Davis is also CEO of GateHouse Media. HOLLISTON — Harvard Bioscience of Holliston has acquired HEKA Electronik, a privately held, German biomedical instrumentation and soft- ware business. The acquisition is val- ued at about $6 million in cash, Harvard Bioscience announced. Harvard Bioscience makes life scienc- es equipment and instruments. Its statement said that HEKA, as a key developer of patch clamp amplifier instruments for biomedical research, "substantially bolsters Har vard Bioscience's product portfolio in the electrophysiology market." FRAMINGHAM — More than $18 million was seized from accounts con- nected to the owners of New England Compounding Center (NECC), the Framingham pharmacy linked to the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak, the U.S. Department of Justice said. The funds were seized from 13 financial institutions under 26 warrants issued by the U.S. District Court in Boston. Approximately $1.5 million was seized from three accounts held by Barry J. Cadden, an NECC shareholder and the company's head pharmacist. Cadden, of Wrentham, was indicted last month on 131 criminal charges, as were 13 other NECC employees, in connection with the outbreak that killed 64 people and sickened 751 in 20 states. Among other charges, Cadden is accused of 25 counts of second-degree murder. ASHLAND — Ashland-based NuVascular Technologies Inc. said it has obtained exclusive licensing to commercialize a stem cell device that allows the heart to repair itself and improve its functions in as little as two to four weeks. The device, called the BioGenerator, is a minimally invasive treatment for patients with coronary heart disease, according to NuVascular Technologies. NuVascular is working REGIONAL BRIEFS >> Continued on next page Verbatim "We got a lot done. Friendships ensued. It was a very, very good thing … Arthur was a very pragmatic guy." Kevin O'Sullivan, chief executive of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, on his time in the Legislature with former state senator and Worcester businessman Arthur E. Chase, who died Jan. 5. Source: Telegram & Gazette, Jan. 5 >> "I think there is a public health crisis, and this has cost families and com- munities a great deal." Incoming Attorney General Maura Healey on her plans to create a task force to tackle opiate and prescription drug abuse when she takes office Jan. 21. Source: Sentinel & Enterprise, Jan. 12 >> "Part of our plan was to put feet on the street. We didn't get aggressive about cafes and cafeterias. We want students to frequent the restaurants and coffee shops that are already here." Quinsigamond Community College President Gail Carberry, on QCC's decision not to include a cafeteria in its new downtown building in order to boost foot traffic. Source: New York Times, Jan. 6 >> BRIEFING: HEALTH CARE QUALITY CENTRALMASS In Review

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