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Health and Wellness

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Optimae LifeServices receives three-year accreditation

Optimae LifeServices has received a three-year accreditation from CARF International, an independent, nonprofit accrediting organization. The accreditation represents the highest level of recognition awarded to an organization and shows substantial conformance to Commission on Accreditation …

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Survey: One in four large employers at risk for ‘Cadillac’ tax

The good news from a new survey by Mercer is that average per-employee health benefit costs in the United States increased by just 3.8 percent in 2015, slightly less than in 2014 and the third…
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A Closer Look: Kevin Vermeer

Kevin Vermeer was named president and chief strategy officer of UnityPoint Health in March and will succeed CEO Bill Leaver upon his retirement in January 2016. Vermeer was named executive vice president and chief financial …

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Scribes catching on in Iowa

Emergency room doctors in Greater Des Moines have a new resource at their side to help them provide faster, more efficient patient care: medical scribes. 

Since July, each emergency department physician at Mercy Medical Center …

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UnityPoint Health, HealthPartners to launch new insurance company

West Des Moines-based health system UnityPoint Health and HealthPartners, a Minnesota-based nonprofit health maintenance organization, announced plans to launch a new insurance company next year that will offer Medicare Advantage plans in Iowa and Illinois …

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Iowa employers, hospitals showcase wellness best practices

The Iowa Hospital Association and Iowa Business Council have partnered to produce a new report designed to help businesses, health care providers and employees work better together to improve health and control health care costs.…
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Merck to buy Ames-based Harrisvaccines

Merck & Co. Inc.’s animal health unit will buy Ames-based privately held Harrisvaccines Inc. to expand its portfolio of animal vaccines as the U.S. livestock industry seeks new defenses against diseases, Reuters reported.


The companies did…
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Mercy Medical Center expansion to take out apartments

Mercy Medical Center plans to demolish the Mercy Park apartment complex at its Des Moines hospital campus to make room for more inpatient facilities, DesMoinesRegister.com reported.  More than 200 residents will be displaced. Mercy officials say residents …

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Hospitals sue state over Medicaid modernization mandate

The Iowa Hospital Association and leaders of 11 hospitals are suing the state over the privatization of Iowa’s Medicaid system, saying the move would illegally take money from a trust fund to which they contribute, The…
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Wellmark Foundation awards Community Kickstarter wellness grants

A group of first-year students at Drake University has received a $10,000 grant to implement a plan that will make the campus more bicycle-friendly. The project is one of 32 Community Kickstarter grant recipients from the Wellmark …

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