Miami physician sentenced in Medicare fraud case - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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Rodriguez was indicted in , alonhg with two other doctors in connectio witha $10 million Medicare fraurd scheme. He pleaded guilty in to conspiracyg to commit healthcare fraud. Rodriguez was a co-ownerf of and physician at MidwayMedical Center, a Miami clinic that purporteed to specialize in the treatmenr of HIV patients, according to a news releas e from the U.S. Department of He admitted that, whilew at Midway, he and his co-conspirators billef Medicare for services that were medically unnecessary and in many instances never He also admitted that he purchaser only a small amount of the drugs that he claimed to administer to patients and that he falsified medical according to thenews release.
Rodriguez also admittef that he was listed as medical director and practicinh physician for fiveother Miami-area HIV infusion clinicsz between October 2003 and February 2005, where he engagexd in similar activity. He admitted to filinyg more than $20 million in false claims. Severao of Rodriguez’s co-defendants have already been sentenced for their rolezs at Midway andrelated clinics.

Report: Foreclosures are top sellers - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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said banks that are willing to deal on foreclosed units are drivintg the first quarter For example, Shoma at Keys Cove in southh Miami-Dade County sold the most, with 50 unites closing in the first quarter. The Vue at Brickelpl sold 25 condos, ranking it seventh on top-10 list. “Many banks have take ownership of units in these buildingws and are looking toget out,” said Adam president of CondoReports.com. either through short sales or unitsd they own as a result of are the most active sellersin today’s marketr as they are willing to acceptt market prices.” The 10 most active buildings produced an averaged of 29 sales, or one sale every threes days.
The buildings accounted for more than 11 percent of all condo salesin Miami-Dade, according to a CondoReports.com news Most of the activity is tied to individuao unit sales, and not bulk buys, Cappel “These buildings are moving toward stability as speculative investorx and thinly capitalized owners are being replaced with either owner-occupantf or well-capitalized, patient investors buying in at a much lowerd cost,” Cappel said in the statement. “Most are individualo unit sales. The study looked at closed salesin 2,000 condo projects with at leasrt 50 units throughout Miami-Dade.
The study excluded units delivered in 2008 and 2009 becausw those sales were likely driven bypreconstructioh contracts, Cappel said.

It

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The health system, which is facing unprecedenter uncompensated-care costs and looming budget cuts, says moving the clinicz from the purview ofthe system’s physicians’ practicese to will generate about $2.3 million in new revenue annually, a 32 percent increase in fee revenue generated by its hospital-baserd clinics. “If there is a sourcw of revenue, we can keep people’s jobs and keep providinyg services to our patients and all sortwof things,” says hospital spokeswoman Karen McCall. A hospital-based clinic is one that is operated by the hospital and not by aphysician group.
It has nothinfg to do with the clinic’s McCall says clinics in which more advanced specialty procedures are performed are most likely to behospitakl based. Primary care clinics will remainphysiciaj based, largely because few procedures are conducted there. The healtnh system, which operates 160 clinics, both hospita l and physician based, has been converting specialthy clinics to hospital based forseveral years. The latestf round of clinics being reclassifiedcover gastrointestinal, geriatrics, nephrology, pulmonary and rheumatology The new clinics will boosf hospital-based clinic facility fee revenue to abourt $9.
5 million annually, almost 1 percent of the system’s total operatint budget. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services allows hospitals to chargew higher facility feesfor hospital-based clinics than for physiciah clinics. The rationale for the disparity is that hospitals need larger fees to help cover the cost of providingemergency departments, burn units, obstetrics and other areaas that are expensive to maintain but are not self-supporting.
The ability to convertf a physician practice toa hospital-based practicwe is largely confined to academic health centers such as UNC Hospitals and , which have hundreds of physicianas on staff who not only providre clinical care, but also conducyt research and teach medical students and residents. Other such or even UNC Healthg Care-owned , largely do not employ thei r own doctors. The bulk of theitr physicians work in private practices and offerd their services to the hospitals in exchange for beinbg able to usethe hospital’sd facilities. The hospitals do charges patients a fee for the use ofthe hospital’s equipment and staff.
UNC’s actiojn will boost costs to patients visitinb theaffected clinics. Insured patients could pay morein co-payments and spokesman Lew Borman says it is not uncommon for hospitals to reclassifuy clinics to be able to charge additiona fees. The hospital simply informs the insurer of its and BCBSNC and other insurers have littld say inthe decision. UNC’s move comesa as the hospital faces cuts in stater appropriationsand $270 million in uncompensated-care costs. UNC Hospitals CEO Bill Ropere has said that state budgey cuts and rising uncompensated care couldc force the hospital to makemajoer cuts, including possibly letting some physicianes go.

Governor signs bill in Wichita - Wichita Business Journal:

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As reported last week in the Wichita Business House Bill 2374 outlines how Kansas will spendxthe $69 million it expects to receivd in stimulus money for the state’s unemployment benefits It also ensures the state meets all federal guidelines regardingh the funding, a portion of which has been dedicatedf to work force training. Tuesday morning, Parkinsonj signed the bill at , wherer president and CEO Jeff Turner hopes it will help facilitatsea “wage-learner” program that would help workers on reducedd schedules get training on days they were off Parkinson thanked both the large group of local legislators assembleed for the signing and Turner for theier help in bringing the idea of wager learners closef to reality.
“These are times when the stakes are so high and the challengexs are so great that we have to work Parkinson says. “We’re Kansans and we know how to getthingsw done.” Parkinson says he “can’t understate the importance,” Turner and Spirirt played in creating the public-privated partnership that spearheaded the bill. At Spirit, Turner hopesz the bill would lay the groundwork for aidinv employees if the company was forced to return to a reduced work schedule as it didlast fall. At that in response to the strike bythe , Spiriy moved employees to a three-dayh work week.
It allowed them to keep theire normal benefits while also making them eligible for unemploymengt for the two days they were off theproductioj line. Through the wage-learner initiative, Turner says thosee same employees could also receive which he feels would help Spiriyt retain employees in down times and help strengthej its position when the marketw swingsback up. Turner says such reductions “are not for Spirit employees and that the bill is beneficialo to all businesses that pay intothe state’s unemploymengt benefit fund because it brings in money the state wouldn’t have otherwise.
Under its the bill would make any displaced worker enrolled ina state-approved training progranm eligible for up to an additionaol 26 weeks of unemployment benefits. Parkinson, who left Spirig to tour the construction site, says the bill is an example of how Kansas can benefit from the stimulusa package. “I don’t think this coulxd have happened without theRecovery Act,” he

Business First of Columbus: Columbus Commercial Real Estate Listings - View Commercial Real Estate

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Developers weathering market

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Several major projects that either came on the market recently or are under construction are helping push vacanc rates higher and leaseerates lower. That’s good for tenants, bad for owneras and developers. But it’s not just an oversupplyy of space coupled with a shortage of tenantdemancd that’s hurting property owners. High constructio costs, including for interior tenant finishes, and worried lenders are also weighingg onthe situation, said Michele Laumer at .
From a developer’z perspective, “You’ve got the perfect storm,” Laumer In Cincinnati, they are already having a tough time leasing newlgy completed office buildings such as Redstonein Kenwood, Columbiq Square in Columbia Tusculum and Keystone Park in With the economy sinking, no additional projects are expecteds to get under way withoutt substantial preleasing. That means “everh bit of 50 if not more,” said Scott a broker at who is tryinvg to line up tenants for aproposed 300,000-square-foot office tower for the Banks. “Cincinnati has weathered the storkmfairly well.
We’re not at a point where we’re significantl y overbuilt,” Yards said. If a largde corporation or law firmwanted 100,000 square feet, it’w tough to put together that much desirabld space. “There’s not a lot of alternatives for big blocksof space,” he said. At least, not at the Lurking on the horizon, however, is ’s Queenm City Square skyscraper, which open downtown in 2011. The 840,000-square-foot office tower has abouf 300,000 square feet still And the 530,000 square feet that’s preleased by will creatd an exodus out ofthat company’e current quarters at 580 Walnut and 525 Vine.
Add in the proposec Banks office space, impending consolidations by the othef kindof banks, and a few other smalle r projects, and the market is clearly shiftinh in the direction of “overbuilt.” Dave Neyer, CEO of , said no one is doing speculative office developments in this environment, but projects can be done if a tenang commits up front for a sizeable chunki of space. “A user-driven project makew sense,” he said. The initial office buildinf at Neyer’s Linden Pointse office park in Norwood is about 90 percent he said, and a second buildinv could get under way if it had a 50,000-square-foort anchor tenant.
Neyer is also renovating the 150,000-square-foot formetr Hennegan Printing building at West Thirf and Central Avenue downtownfor ’s new The rapidly expanding joint venture is expectedc to move in this summer. Laumer cited othere bright spots, too, such as ’ relocation to the formee Gruen Watch building onEast McMillan. It more than doublec its space. “There are deals being transacted, and theres are businesses thatare growing,” Laumer said.
Still, landlords are happily acceptingv offers now that they would have cringefd at only a few months ago including loweredlease rates, early termination rights and rent In the past they’d have asked, “Whyh would I do this Laumer said. But they’re quickly coming around to the realizationthat “it might be the best deal you’rer going to get for three years.” Severak major projects are changing the offic e space landscape in a tough time. Westernh & Southern Financial Group's Queenh City Square opens in 2011, and an office towerf is planned forthe Banks.

Spike in military shipping helps port - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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Nearly four times as much military cargk has come through Blountg Island in the first four monthss of 2009 as in the same perioc ayear ago. The handlinvg of about 53,500 tons has helped offset the port’s overalo 5 percent decrease in tonnage. And since the Defensde Department’s Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command contracts everything from ship loadin and unloading torail transport, the privatee sector benefits. The port’s diverse types of cargo help it to weather slumpse in other typesof cargo, said Victoria Robas, the Jacksonvillse Port Authority’s director of the Blount Island terminal.
An increase in cruise traffic has also keptthe authority’s revenur higher than the same time last year. “Tl a large part, you could watch CNN and see what wouls increase atsea ports,” said Army Lt. Col. Ralpn Riddle, who commands the 832nd Transportatioh Battalion. “Our traffic is very much a surge We may have several months where we have no shipds and then several ships in a But this year has beenespecially busy, meaninbg more work for . Aside from givingv (NYSE: CSX) business by contracting equipment to be raileds in and out ofthe terminal, the battalio contracts thousands of truck loads Riddle said.
hasn’t provided shipping services to the militar since November because its ships have been in dry but it hopes to take advantagew of the increased demand within45 days, said Franj Peake, the company’s president. He said and are the two largestf commercial carriers for military cargo on theEast Coast. The 50-memberr battalion sets up the contracts needed to run 30 port terminalsx in Central and South America andthe Caribbean. This is in addition to its handlinv of a terminal in Cape Canaveral and its operationb in Puerto Rico that tracks hundreds of containers moving in and out ofthe island.