Concentra Inc., is a national health care company founded in 1979 in Amarillo, Texas. The company is headquartered in Addison, Texas and operates more than 520 urgent care centers in 44 states. Concentra has more than 1,000 affiliated physicians and 1,285 physical therapists. Concentra also provides a range of health improvement solutions to employers, and operates more than 100 employer onsite medical facilities. The company's primary focuses are occupational health, physical therapy, and urgent care.
History
Concentra’s predecessor was founded when three physicians opened up the first occupational health center in Amarillo, Texas. These physicians applied the same occupational health model to their second location, which opened in Garland, Texas in 1985. Between 1985 and 1997, the network of medical centers grew under the management of OccuCenters, Inc. In 1997, Dallas-based OccuSystems, Inc., parent of OccuCenters, merged with Boston-based CRA Managed Care, Inc. to form Concentra Managed Care, Inc., a publicly traded company. In 1999, the company's stock was privatized, and in 2001, the company changed its name to Concentra Incorporated. A period of expansion followed as Concentra grew to include health-related businesses such as network services, bill review, case management, independent medical examinations, and PPO networks. Following a series of divestiture transactions in 2006 and 2007, Concentra narrowed its focus on occupational health, medical center expansion, and wellness and preventive care. In 2007, the company launched its urgent care initiative to meet the growing need for a cost-effective option to hospital emergency rooms for non-emergency conditions. As part of this initiative, the organization wanted a consistent platform to support its strategic growth plan and align more than 330 centers in 40 states that were varied in design, operational requirements, and brand mark. In December 2010, Humana announced its acquisition of Concentra for approximately $790 million. Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a New York City-based private equity firm, had previously owned a majority of Concentra's equity since 1999. In June 2015, Humana Inc. announced the sale of the stock of its wholly owned subsidiary, Concentra Inc., to a joint venture between Select Medical Holdings Corporation and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe a private equity fund for approximately $1.055 billion in cash. Select Medical’s purchase of Concentra supports its goal to create a maximally profitable occupational-medicine business channel that complements the organization’s existing portfolio of long-term acute care hospitals, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and contract rehabilitation services. Approximately 80% of Concentra's revenue is derived from patient visits to its medical centers, while its Health Solutions businesses collectively generate the remaining 20%. On average, more than 30,000 patients visit Concentra's medical centers each day. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1 out of every 7 occupational injuries in the U.S. is treated by Concentra.
Litigation
In 2005, a class action lawsuit was brought against Concentra and its subsidiaries, Concentra Managed Care and Focus Healthcare Management. It alleged that Concentra and its subsidiaries engaged in silent PPO activities and unfair repricing tactics. The lawsuit was initiated on behalf of First State Orthopaedics and all U.S. physicians with workers' compensation or car accident bills that had been repriced by Concentra or its subsidiaries. The complaint was based on allegations of "breach of contract/duty of good faith and fair dealing, tortious interference with existing and prospective contractual relations and unjust enrichment". Some parties agreed to a $3.7 million settlement, in which Concentra agreed to pay $2,000 to each plaintiff and legal fees. However, the settlement terms were criticized by many of the doctors, supported by medical professional associations, such as the American Medical Association and the Connecticut State Medical Society. The AMA filed an objection with the court on the grounds that "the defendants' promised changes are illusory, incapable of verification, and in any event inadequate to redress the damages". CSMS said the terms of the settlement "provide very little relief to aggrieved physicians" and would require them "to give up virtually all legal claims they may have" that are tangentially related to the claims in this suit and recommended that doctors who were substantially aggrieved should consider opting out of the class action lawsuit to retain the option to pursue an individual claim against the company in the future. In 2009, Concentra was part of a class action workers' compensation case, Josephine Gianzero et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. et al, alongside Wal-Mart and its insurance adjuster Claims Management Inc.. The lawsuit was filed in Colorado federal court on behalf of 13,521 Wal-Mart employees who had received treatment for work-related injuries. According to Denver Business Journal, the workers sued Wal-Mart, CMI, and Concentra for "interfer with and limit the independent judgment of certain medical providers who treated injured workers employed by in Colorado who sustained on-the-job injuries". After fighting the charges for three years, Judge Robert Blackburn approved a settlement of $8 million, requiring Concentra to pay $4 million, through its insurer, and Wal-Mart and CMI to pay the other half. Concentra was ordered to pay $520 to each Wal-Mart employee that had been treated at one of its offices and $50 to employees who were treated at other clinics.
