Today in Globe Business

Mass. banks outperform peers

Bay State banks reported an increase in bad loans during the first three months of the year, but performed better than most of their peers across the country, according to government data released yesterday.

Over the past year, the amount of delinquent loans has nearly doubled, while profits slipped by more than a quarter at 172 Massachusetts-based financial institutions that are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The federal agency released aggregated data yesterday on bank performance, for both the state and the nation as a whole.

Delinquent loans increased to $796 million in the first quarter of this year, up 15 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008 and 93 percent higher than the first quarter of last year.

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Insurers ranked on payment records

The state government Medicaid plan known as MassHealth, which covers low-income patients who can't afford insurance, was the slowest payer of health claims to Massachusetts doctors last year, averaging 56 days, and denied the highest share of claims, 23.8 percent, according to rankings set to be released today.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts took an average of 22.8 days to pay physicians who submitted claims last year, the fastest rate among Massachusetts health insurers, the rankings show. Tufts Health Plan, meanwhile, denied 4.9 percent of its claims, the smallest share among the five large payers billed by Bay State medical providers.

The rankings were prepared by Athenahealth Inc., a Watertown company that helps doctors handle billing and records electronically, in collaboration with the Physicians Practice management journal.

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The campaign for Conan

With his lanky frame and styled red hair, Conan O'Brien looks nothing like a box of cornflakes or a tube of Colgate toothpaste. And yet, that's one way NBC has been portraying the comedian before he takes over the network's venerable "The Tonight Show."

That's right: The Brookline native, who attended Harvard, has been promoted like a new flavor from Coca-Cola or a soon-to-debut brand of floor wax. In one promo that has aired in recent weeks, domestic arts guru Martha Stewart says, "Oh, goodness, Conan is like the perfect treat." In another, actor Nathan Lane tells viewers: "Conan: Just look for the big red hair." Each promo also asks: "Have you tried Conan O'Brien?"

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Auction threatens Bayside development

The owner of the Bayside Exposition Center is expected to lose more than half of the 27 acres of prime waterfront property it has slated for redevelopment after the hall goes on the auction block today.

Barring an 11th-hour postponement, the auction will punch a giant hole in Corcoran Jennison Cos.' plans to convert the old expo center into a $1 billion community on Dorchester Bay, with hundreds of residences, stores, and offices.

The company defaulted on a $22 million loan connected to the Bayside center late last year, setting in motion a legal process that will culminate with today's auction. The land occupied by the Bayside Exposition Center accounts for 17 of the 27 acres included in Corcoran Jennison's proposal, including the building itself and surrounding parking lots.

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TECH LAB: MiFi lets you share your portable Internet connection

A remarkable new networking gadget from Novatel Wireless Inc. seems to have gotten everything right except the name. It's called MiFi, a catchy but inaccurate moniker for such an unselfish product.

Anybody with a BlackBerry or an Apple iPhone knows what it's like to carry the Internet around in a shirt pocket. But what about the person sitting next to you? Perhaps you'd like to share your cellular data stream with friends, family members, or business colleagues. Novatel's found a nearly painless way to do it: a tiny black rectangle about the same size as a business card case that acts as a portable Internet hotspot.

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