FRI AM News: Sluggish economy predicted, credit union lending grows, MCW and Froedtert partner on electronic health records

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http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=364653

— One of the few positive indicators the Fed can point to, the labor market, might not actually be that strong, a Memphis-based economist told the Wisconsin Bankers Association.

Though the national unemployment rate is now at 4.9 percent, Vining Sparks IBG chief economist Craig Dismuke pointed to other indicators. The labor participation rate, for example, hasn’t recovered. The percentage of people with full-time jobs isn’t yet at pre-recession levels. Payrolls are growing, but they’re largely coming from lower-wage sectors.

Changing all of that would help the sluggishly low inflation rates get closer to the Fed’s target, but there’s little indication that will occur, Dismuke said at a Madison Monona Terrace event this week.

“If that doesn’t happen, I don’t think they can raise rates,” he said.

See more on his remarks:

http://wisbusiness.com/index.Iml?Article=364986

— The state’s chartered credit unions lent 9.6 percent more last year than in 2014, the state’s Department of Financial Institutions says.

The 150 credit unions lent a total of $22.2 billion, a $2 billion increase from 2014, while their assets increased 9.3 percent to $28.7 billion. There were also 10 fewer credit unions last year, showing the industry-wide effects of mergers.

See more:

https://www.wdfi.org/newsroom/press/2016/2015CUReport20160211.pdf

— CVS Health is partnering with Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin on an electronic health records initiative.

The partnership will, for example, let CVS Pharmacy give updates to doctors on their patients. It will also pass on information to primary care physicians if patients go to CVS’ MinuteClinics, with patients’ approval.

The partnership will help give Froedtert and MCW physicians “access to a more complete and timely profile of their patients,” said the organization’s chief medical officer, Jonathon Truwit.

See more:

http://www.froedtert.com/News/Default.aspx?id=398&sid=1&nid=792&showBack=true&PageIndex=0&cid=1

— Navitus Health Solutions will expand its Appleton campus as the pharmacy benefits manager continues to grow faster than it expected.

Navitus employs 600 people nationwide, ranging from its Madison headquarters to offices in Appleton, Austin and Phoenix. The company has more than doubled the number of members it serves since the Appleton office opened, so Navitus is building a second office there three years earlier than it originally planned.

Construction on the four-story building will be completed this fall and will have room for 500 more employees.

See more:

http://wisbusiness.com/index.Iml?Article=364940

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