Medicare exchange firm to hire 700 for temp openings

Towers Watson, a professional services company that operates the nation’s largest private Medicare exchange, will hire 700 people who will work through year-end during the Medicare open enrollment season.

The positions include full-time, temporary benefit advisers; customer service representatives; data processing employees; training specialists; compliance representatives; operations supervisors and managers who will work at the company’s operations center at 10975 S. Sterling View Drive, Suite A1, South Jordan.

SBA launches Affordable Care Act website and blog

The U.S. Small Business Administration has launched a web page and blog to help educate small business owners about the Affordable Care Act.

The new tools will connect the owners of small businesses with information from federal agencies responsible for implementing the law.

"The Affordable Care Act provides small business owners with access and opportunity to provide affordable health care options for their employees," said SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills. "SBA’s new Affordable Care Act web page and blog will serve as resources for small business owners who want learn more about how to take advantage of these benefits."

The Affordable Care Act has many beneficial measures specifically for small businesses; including slowing premium cost growth and increased access to quality, affordable health insurance, according to the SBA.

The new web page, www.sba.gov/healthcare, breaks down the key provisions of the Act based on business size in the following categories: self-employed, fewer than 25 employees, fewer than 50 employees and more than 50 employees.



The web page also provides links to other useful information for small businesses, including a glossary of key health care reform terms, an interactive timeline with dates for when reforms will be implemented, a state-by-state breakdown of health care options and how to learn more about specific tax provisions and regulations.

Additional resources will be added as they become available, the SBA said.

The blog, entitled Health Care Business Pulse (www.sba.gov/blog), will provide small business owners with continuous updates about the implementation of the Act. The blog is for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal or tax advice. Readers should consult their legal or tax professionals to discuss how specific matters relate to their individual business circumstances. Salt Lake Tribune

University of Utah set to open state's second dental school in fall of 2013

The state of Utah is getting its second dental school.

The University of Utah School of Dentistry, a public school, will welcome its first class of 20 students this fall. Construction is expected to begin soon on a new dental school building that will be named for a benefactor who donated $30 million for the program.

Utah's first dental school, the Roseman University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine, a private school, opened its doors to 64 students in 2011. Roseman is located in South Jordan, Utah, south of Salt Lake City.

Dr. G. Lynn Powell, University of Utah School of Dentistry founding dean, estimates the school will receive more than 500 applications in its first year.

The new dental school builds on the University of Utah's long-running, successful dental education programs that include a postgraduate dental residency program, which will continue, and a 32-year-old Regional Dental Education Program directed by Dr. Powell. The RDEP recruits dental students who attend their first year of dental education at the University of Utah's School of Medicine then complete their final three years at Creighton University School of Dentistry in Omaha, Neb. Under the terms of the agreement, some of the students' tuition can be reimbursed if they return to Utah to practice. With the opening of the new School of Dentistry, that program will be discontinued when the final class of the RDEP graduates in 2016.

The Commission on Dental Accreditation granted initial accreditation to the University of Utah School of Dentistry in 2012. Dentistry IQ

For more information please visit: http://www.ada.org

Utah’s Health Catalyst gets $33M in new funding

Utah-based Health Catalyst said Tuesday it had secured $33 million in new investment to help it keep up with growth in the rapidly expanding demand for electronic records for the health care industry.

The company, which has offices in the Cottonwood Heights area of Salt Lake County, said it had received the funding from Norwest Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital, both from the Bay Area, and Sorenson Capital of Utah.

Bullock said Sorenson’s $5 million investment was prompted by Health Catalyst’s position in helping deliver efficient results for health care providers. Health care is the No. 1 economic and humanitarian issue facing the U.S., he said.

"Being able to address that with quality of care and efficiency of care is what [Health Catalyst] does," Bullock said.

Health Catalyst provides software for what it calls a data warehouse, a database that stores information gathered by physicians and others regarding diagnoses and treatments of patients. It then analyzes that information in order to tell providers what works best for patients and what improvements might be made to improve outcomes and make systems more financially efficient.

Burton said the company in the past two years has brought out about 40 programs designed to measure outcomes and costs of specific conditions and diseases, such as diabetes.

Health Catalyst faces stiff competition from some industry database heavyweights such as Oracle and IBM, said Burton. But he said the Utah company’s advantage in the marketplace is that its products were designed specifically for health care providers and were not adopted from other industries. That’s important given the complexity of health care information and its analysis, Burton said.

The company has about 65 employees and is hiring, he said. Salt Lake Tribune

University of Utah Healthcare Buying Land, Expanding

The state Board of Regents has approved $19.4 million in land acquisition requests by the University of Utah to expand its clinical operations.

The U. proposes turning an existing four-building complex in Murray into dermatology and ophthalmology clinics. The university also hopes develop land in Farmington into a multi-specialty clinic that would enhance patient access and preserve U. market share in Davis County.

The nine-acre parcel in Murray carries a $14 million price tag.

"This location is the best we could find," said Randy Olson, CEO of the Moran Eye Center at the U. "It has access from all the major freeways. In the new environment of the Affordable Care Act we need to be very patient friendly."

And that means developing clinics closer to where patients live so they don’t have to travel to the U.’s crowded health-science campus for out-patient care, officials say.

Two of the buildings would be demolished to make way for a 60,000-square-foot clinical building, while the other two will be put out for lease. The project’s $30 million cost would be financed from hospital reserve funds and $10 million in revenue bonds the Legislature has approved, said Olson.

The clinics to be consolidated are housed at three leased locations, costing the university $550,000.

The U. also is looking at a 10.4-acre parcel in Farmington that Regents on Friday approved for acquisition with a cost at around $5.4 million. A proposed clinical facility would provide a variety of outpatient services to U. patients who live in Davis County.

The site is next to Farmington Station Park, where Interstate 15 and U.S. 89 meet near the Lagoon amusement park.

"We are considering changing away from inpatient activity to an outpatient arena that is closer to the patient," said Gordon Crabtree, the chief financial officer of the U.’s health-care network.

Other than a small clinic in Centerville and some dialysis centers, the U. does not have much of a footprint in Davis County. Salt Lake Tribune

Women’s Mental Health Center Opens New Utah Location

The Healing Group (THG), a private practice women’s mental health center in Utah, announced the
expansion of its therapeutic services to women and their families in two ways: It’s opening a new 2,300-
square-foot facility in Salt Lake City at 6771 S. 900 East Ste 100; and it has partnered with Regroup
Therapy to bring women together with expert, licensed therapists in a live video support group, allowing
women to join from wherever they choose.

“In three and half years, we’ve grown from one therapist who was renting space from us to nine fulltime
therapists at two locations serving Salt Lake City and Utah Counties,” said Kristin B. Hodson, MSW and
LCSW, founder and executive director of The Healing Group. “Through our partnership with Regroup
Therapy, we’re now able to reach women in remote areas and those unable to get childcare or come into
the center.” Utah Business

Nonprofit dental clinic now offers pediatric sedation

According to a Utah Department of Health (UDOH) survey conducted in the fall of 2010, more than 2,600 first-, second- and third-graders needed urgent dental care due to extensive tooth decay, infection and/or pain — in large part due to a lack of insurance and income to pay for the costly services.

In response to that need, Salt Lake Donated Dental Services — a nonprofit clinic that has provided dental care to the under-served of all ages since 1990 — launched its pediatric sedation program in March. It currently operates one day per month.

While using anesthesia significantly adds to the cost of the dental work, the practice makes sense for young children who are in chronic pain and can’t sit still for extended periods of time. Even X-rays are taken during sedation.

So far, 18 children have received $32,930 worth of sedation and dental treatment, including 44 fillings, 82 crowns, 31 extractions, 18 cleanings, 13 sealants and 12 fluoride varnishes.

Many of the children have been referred to the sedation program by SLCAP Head Start, which serves children up to 5 years old who live in families with incomes at or below the federal poverty level — about $23,000 a year for a family of four. The early childhood development program can accept children with family incomes up to 125 percent of that threshold. Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake VA adds five mental health staffers

One new psychotherapist began work at the Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System this week and four more employees are being recruited, part of a nationwide surge to better treat veterans with mental health problems.

Nationally, the VA is hiring 1,600 mental health clinicians and 300 support staff to keep up with the demands of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post traumatic stress, depression, substance abuse and other challenges.

The Salt Lake City VA system’s five new positions are its share of the national expansion, said Scott F. Hill, chief of mental health for the VA, which serves all but two counties in Utah, as well as areas of southeast Idaho and northeast Nevada. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah’s MGIS sells insurance brokerage unit

The MGIS Companies, a Salt Lake City-based provider of physician insurance products, said it has sold its medical liability insurance brokerage unit, MGIS P&C.

The business unit’s accounts and in-force policies were purchased by two separate buyers, Doctors First Inc. and Hub International Limited.

Betty Mangery, a spokeswoman for Doctors First, an insurance firm that caters specifically to the medical field and specializes in professional liability coverage, said that acquisition will enhance that company’s retail operation and helps grow its product lines. Salt Lake Tribune

Brasher Insurance Is Moving to Salt Lake City

A local Utah insurance company announced today that they are moving locations. CEO, Reed Brasher of Brasher Insurance Group, established his insurance company in 2011 and didn’t know what to expect.

Today he finds himself packing boxes and moving chairs to a new office in Salt Lake City to meet the demands of his growing insurance company.

Most start up insurance companies fail within the first year, so what was the secret that made the difference? He said, “honesty and hard work. People just want to know we care about them and that they are getting the best rates.” Brasher Insurance Group is an independent insurance company who specialize in a broad range of insurance plans. Chron.com

New Hospital in Draper Will Add to Utah's Indefatigable Healthcare Industry

Utah's healthcare industry is unflagging, which has averaged approximately 4 percent employment growth over the past 15 years, despite two recessions.Now, a new hospital under construction in Draper will add to employment growth in the industry, while residents there and in surrounding communities will enjoy easier access to quality healthcare services come the fall of 2013, when MountainStar Healthcare completes its new 30-bed, 100,000 square-foot hospital on the MountainStar Lone Peak Medical Campus.

Officials from MountainStar say the new hospital will bring much-needed inpatient services to South Valley communities, especially in the areas of obstetric care and surgery services. The hospital will also create much-needed jobs -- approximately 300 of them -- as MountainStar expands its existing outpatient diagnostic services to better serve local patients. Utah Policy

Utah’s inactive Myrexis launches new growth strategy

Myrexis Inc., a Salt Lake City-based biotechnology research company that idled much of its operations last year, said it is pursing a new long-term strategy.

Part of it will be to explore acquisition opportunities to bring new commercial operations to the company.

To help accomplish that goal, the company said Richard Brewer has been appointed president and CEO, and that David Gryska will be chief operating officer, with both also named to Myrexis’ board of directors.

"The board has been evaluating alternatives to increase shareholder value following our decision in February to suspend development activities on the company’s pre-clinical and clinical programs," Myrexis Chairman Gerald Bell said a statement announcing the executive appointments.

Brewer and Gryska collectively have an extensive track record of commercializing, acquiring and marketing pharmaceutical products, he added. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah’s largest hospital chain sticking with embattled debt collector

Hundreds of documents released this month by Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson revealed that one of the nation’s largest debt collectors, Accretive Health, "infused" itself into a Minnesota hospital chain, coaching employees to ask patients for payment at the bedside, sometimes before they received treatment.

Like Fairview Health Services in Minnesota, Intermountain signed a five-year contract to have Accretive manage its entire revenue cycle, from the scheduling, registering and admitting of patients to back-office billing functions. And like Fairview, Intermountain is a non-profit — a status it risks jeopardizing by fusing with a publicly-traded company intent on turning profits, say consumer advocates.

Intermountain says its relationship with Accretive is different, both more collaborative and more expansive.

Utah’s health giant struck a deal with the company in November, and is monitoring the situation in Minnesota, but it has no plans to re-evaluate its contract, said Intermountain Finance Vice President Greg Johnson.

Together, Intermountain and Accretive will create a Center of Excellence in Salt Lake City with the goal of bringing more jobs to Utah and "raising the bar" in hospital billing, said Johnson. The center will sell its services to other providers. Salt Lake Tribune

Advanced Practice Job Fair on Thursday, April 19th

To register online or see a map of the venue, visit: www.utahmec.org

To see more postings for job fairs and recruitments, check out the DWS Facebook page here.

University of Utah trustees approve dental school

University of Utah trustees on Tuesday approved a School of Dentistry, the first new college at the U. in years, along with a related four-year doctoral program, all funded by $37 million in private pledges. The school will enroll its first cohort of 20 dental students in fall 2013.

The doctoral program, which still requires approval of the state Board of Regents, won’t be the first in Utah. That was established last year by the private, non-profit Roseman University in South Jordan. But the U.’s will be the nation’s first dentistry school established at a research institution in 30 years, according to G. Lynn Powell, the U.’s interim dean for dental education. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah vets and their families can get help at day-long summit

The first-ever Utah Veterans & Families Summit is March 30 at the Salt Palace Convention Center, and will be free of charge to those attending.

There also will be a job fair for veterans in conjunction with the summit, said Terry Schow, executive director of the Utah Department of Veterans Affairs. Among the workshop topics are divorce, finances, employment, communication, women veterans’ issues, mental health, resiliency and emotional isolation. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah’s Nelson Laboratories poised for growth

Nelson Laboratories said it has acquired a new building adjacent to its current facilities that will accommodate its need for future expansion.

The Salt Lake City-based testing laboratory, which supports the development and production of medical devices, drugs, cosmetics and natural products, said the newly acquired 12,000-square-foot property is undergoing a renovation that is expected to be completed in April.

Jeffrey R. Nelson, president and CEO said the new location will be used for additional sterilizers and aging chambers for package testing. It also will provide additional space for testing products that are designed for reuse, such as cleaning, disinfection and steam sterilization tools used in hospitals.

Nelson said the company, founded in 1985, has a strong history of growth having roughly doubled in size every five years. Salt Lake Tribune

New health care facility opens its doors in South Jordan

The new 208,000-square-foot South Jordan Health Center officially opened its doors Wednesday. The center, which is University of Utah Health Care's largest off-campus facility, is located in the Daybreak community of South Jordan. The facility offers health care for all ages, including primary, emergency, and specialty care services. It features a 24-hour emergency room; AirMed helicopter transport; a full-service pharmacy; 400 primary and specialty care physicians, nurses, and staff; and branches of Huntsman Cancer Institute and the Moran Eye Center. Deseret News

University of Utah med school looks to expand enrollment

The University of Utah will ask lawmakers next year for enough money to not only restore its medical school class size but expand it by another 20 seats over the next two years. U. officials have calculated the annual cost of such an expansion, a potential increase of 40 students in each class of the four-year program, at $12.2 million. In a “cost-sharing” proposal, the university will ask the state to cover $9.6 million, which would bring Utah more in line with levels of state support enjoyed by most public medical schools. Salt Lake Tribune

University of Utah Health trims jobs

University of Utah Health Care is laying off 56 employees by the end of December. Spokesman Christopher Nelson said the reduction of billing and accounting employees will save $2 million over the next five years. But he added that the decision was about efficiency, not economics. He said about half of the employees are expected to be rehired within the U.’s financial services department. Salt Lake Tribune