The doctor is in: Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group announced today that it has opened a new primary care clinic called Internal Medicine at Picardy. The clinic, located at 8119 Picardy Ave., provides comprehensive adult medicine services and is led by Drs. Brian Gremillion and Bradley Meek. The internists specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of a broad range of illness and medical issues as well as preventive health care, a news release says. The clinic is currently accepting patients 18 years and older. OLOL Physician Group operates more than 400 health care providers throughout 50 locations.
More than one: A new audit says Louisiana’s Medicaid program paid what appears to be $1.4 million in improper, duplicate payments for services over a five-year period. As The Associated Press reports, Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera’s office says auditors reviewed Medicaid eligibility files and claims data covering January 2011 through October 2016 to look for duplicate payments. Auditors found $2.8 million in duplicate claims and believe erroneous payments make up half the amount. The Louisiana Department of Health says it has established a way to find and eliminate duplicate IDs for Medicaid recipients and has scoured records to find duplicate payments. The agency says it is doing such work routinely to catch duplicate payments and has recovered $1.4 million, which the auditor’s office says is not included in duplicate payments it found.
For the right price: Panera Bread is exploring strategic options including a possible sale after receiving takeover interest, sources with knowledge of the matter tell Bloomberg. The bakery chain, which has a market value of about $6.5 billion, is working with advisers to study the options, say the sources, who asked not to be named while discussing the private process. Potential suitors could include JAB Holding Co., Starbucks Corp. and Domino’s Pizza Inc., says one of the sources. There’s no certainty a deal of any sort will be reached for St. Louis-based Panera. A spokesman for JAB declined to comment, and a Domino’s representative said the company has “a lot more opportunity for growth in pizza.” Starbucks didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Read more.
