UnitedHealthcare Takes over Mississippi CHIP Transition Affects 67,000 Children and Their Providers UnitedHealthcare kicked off the New Year with a new contract. The Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) contracted with UnitedHealthcare—the nation’s largest managed healthcare company serving low-income individuals in the public sector—to manage the Mississippi Division of Medicaid (DOM)-administered Mississippi Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for four years, with an option by the state to renew for a fifth year. LYNNE JETER

The MED ER Remains Open—For Now Shelby County Mayor Joe Ford and the Shelby County Commission may have come up with a way to keep the doors open to the Emergency Department of the Regional Medical Center at Memphis (The MED), which were slated to close this month. LYNNE JETER

Versatile VersadelTM “Unfortunately, nobody could simultaneously overcome three large problems: getting the genetic material past the body’s natural immune system; getting the genetic material inside the targeted cell; and activating the genetic material once it is inside the targeted cell. Versadel overcomes all three.” – Ken Malone, CEO, Ablitech. LYNNE JETER

2010: A Year of Sweeping Administrative Change Regulatory Changes Impact Practice Function; Healthcare Reform Looms The year 2010 portends to be a very active year for medical offices. A plethora of regulatory changes will have a significant impact on the way practices function. Some of these changes are known. Some, however, are yet to be discovered. HAROLD INGRAM

UCB Banking Southern Miss Nursing Instructor Reveals Pregnant Women Are Poorly Educated on Potential Life-Saving Option at Birth HATTIESBURG—Sharon Cranford Easterling, MSN, RN, learned the vital importance of umbilical cord blood (UCB) banking when her 4-year-old daughter, Kelli, was diagnosed with leukemia in 1994. LYNNE JETER

Mayo Clinic Software Answers Cardiology’s HIT Need Kardia Health Brings Technology to the Market With cardiologists spread thin and reimbursements for their services declining, the key to survival is improved efficiency. That’s according to Doug Marinaro, the chief operating officer of Minnesota-based Kardia Health Systems. The three-year-old company is working to put cardiology-focused health information technology developed by the renowned Mayo Clinic into the hands of providers. SHARON H. FITZGERALD

RAC ‘n’ Roll Recovery Audit Contracting Rolled Out Nationwide After several years of anticipation, the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program was set for nationwide rollout last month. Despite the notice, many Medicare providers still are not adequately prepared to respond to a request for records. CINDY SANDERS

PHYSICIAN SPOTLIGHT: Jeffrey Carron, MD Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology and Communicative Sciences, University of Mississippi Medical Center When Jeffrey Carron was a young boy, he often emerged from his dad’s van covered in ink. His parents had married young and divorced when Carron, the youngest of three, entered elementary school. “My father (Win) was working in a grocery store and got a loan to buy a newspaper route in 1977,” explained Carron. “He ran this for the next 25 years, getting up at 3 o’clock in the morning—every morning—to deliver 800 to 1,100 newspapers. With this, he was able to put me through private high school and support me in college and medical school.” LYNNE JETER