Beacon opens Bay area office

Beacon Partners (Weymouth, Massachusetts), a healthcare management consulting firm, reported opening a new office in the San Francisco Bay area, allowing Beacon to expand its services to a region that includes California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Alaska, Hawaii and British Columbia

Alan Worsham will lead the expansion as Western Region Practice Director. “Over the years, the western region has been a visionary force in healthcare, both from the business process and technology standpoint,” Worsham said. He previously served as executive director for faculty practice plan information systems at Washington University (St. Louis).

Analysis links medical costs, lost workdays

Heart conditions, trauma, cancer, mental disorders and pulmonary conditions account for an average of 60% of all lost work days due to a short-term disability (STD), according to a MetLife (New York) analysis of more than 1.5 million STD income insurance claims.

“The trend toward consumer-driven health plans creates a critical risk management shift from employer to employee,” said Ronald Leopold, MD, vice president, employer sponsored Bbenefits for MetLife. “As employees assume more financial responsibility for their healthcare decisions, other workplace benefits take on an even more critical role for closing financial protection gaps.”

Curon Medical trading on OTCBB

Curon Medical (Fremont, California) reported that its common stock listing application has been approved by the Nasdaq for trading on the OTC Bulletin Board. Most recently traded as CRNM.PK on the OTC Pink Sheets, and prior to that as CURN on the NASDAQ Small-Cap National Market, the company's common stock now is trading on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board under the stock symbol CRNM.OB.