8th Annual Innovations in Healthcare^SM Awards & Event »»

Sacred Heart:  Stroke Program First to be Recertified »»
John Muir:  Earns Award for Physical Therapy »»
DataLabs:  Maximizes Efficiencies of Managing Clinical Trials »»
ECI Healthcare:  Raff Discusses HSAs at Boomer Summit »»
Goltz Provides Summary of OIG Administrative Sanctions »»
HeartMath:  Aligns with Top-Ranked Spa; Appears on Today »»
Hythiam:  Louisiana Court Tries PROMETA »»
LivHome:  Prepares for National Expansion »»
Resolution Health:  Enhances Patient ID, Intervention »»
Triple Tree:  Upcoming Webcasts Address Healthcare »»
WorkWell: Enhanced Tool Assesses Injured Workers »»

Insurers' Tools Help Patients Question Doctors, Cut Costs »»
Hospital CEOs Surveyed on Future of Healthcare »»
P4P Program May Increase from 1.5% to 10% of Salary »»
Workers' Comp Reforms Reduce Employer Costs by $8.1B »»
Stolen Medical Records Trigger Oregon AG's Investigation »»
Micro-Businesses Cite Cost as Barrier to Health Insurance »»

Bush's Budget Proposal Cuts Medicare Spending »»

"7 Tips to Help You Help Your Parents with Medicare Part D," by Robin Raff of ECI Healthcare »»

Lessons & Resources from a Corporate Move, by John Tanner, CEO of Tanner Research »»

DataLabs: Maximizes Efficiencies of Managing Clinical Trials
DataLabs, where Jim Langford is President, has partnered with Galt Associates, an international leader in managing risk through information, to integrate Galt’s dsNavigator coding and dictionary management product with DataLabs eCDM platform, creating a single integrated solution for biopharmaceutical and CRO companies to streamline clinical data management processes and reduce time and costs. >>

ECI Healthcare:  Raff Discusses HSAs at Boomer Summit
Robin Raff, Chief Strategist for ECI Healthcare, will present the research findings of a study ECI is conducting that probes consumers' receptivity -- particularly baby boomers -- to HSAs and their preferences in managing the funds themselves vs. being provided with financial assistance. For more information on "What's Next... Boomer Business Summit," on March 15th in Anaheim: >>

Goltz Provides Summary of OIG Administrative Sanctions
Gary Goltz, President of Goltz Healthcare, whose client FACIS offers the most complete historical database of health professionals that have had actions taken against them, provides a summary, and some examples, of recent OIG Administrative Sanctions. >>

HeartMath:  Aligns with Top-Ranked Spa; Appears on Today
Bruce Cryer, CEO of HeartMath, has designed a program for guests of Miraval -- named the top-ranked destination spa in America by Travel & Leisure for three consecutive years -- that provides new information on the heart's role in achieving emotional balance, improved health and an enhanced quality of life.  Meanwhile, Dr. Rollin McCraty of the Institute of HeartMath recently visited the "Today" show to discuss the link between heart health and emotions. >>

Hythiam:  Louisiana Court Tries PROMETA
Hythiam, Inc., where Rick Anderson is CAO, which licenses the PROMETA physiological protocols, announced that the 22nd Judicial Court in the State of Louisiana, working with Southern University, will assess the psychological effects of the PROMETA protocols for alcohol, cocaine and methamphetamine dependence in drug court participants. Results will be compared against outcomes data on participants who complete the typical drug court process. Meanwhile, the PROMETA protocols have been licensed to Beverly Hills physician Gary Ross Cohan, MD, a leader in addressing healthcare issues that affect the gay community.  Also, Hythiam has awarded the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association an educational grant of approximately $320,000 to examine methamphetamine use in the gay community and treatment options, and to make recommendations about how healthcare providers can get meth-addicted patients into treatment. >>

LivHome:  Prepares for National Expansion
LivHOME, Inc., where Mike Nicholson is CEO, has launched a new website as part of its preparation to expand into other markets in the U.S. The website provides families with a tool to assess their senior care needs and determine if LivHOME is the right fit, as well as enables healthcare professionals to contact their LivHOME Eldercare Consultant directly through the site. >>

Resolution Health:  Enhances Patient ID, Intervention
Resolution Health, where Harry Soza is Co-Founder, has teamed with a disease management company, Alere Medical Incorporated, to expedite claims analysis for medical, lab, pharmacy and other encounters to facilitate the identification and enrollment of patients into an Alere program. >> 

Triple Tree:  Upcoming Webcasts Address Healthcare
Triple Tree, where Rob McCray is a Managing Partner, will host a number of one-hour webcasts, at no charge to participants, each featuring a panel of leading industry experts. Topics include "Consumer-Driven Healthcare and Its Impact on Health & Wellness," on February 16; and "Population Health Management," on March 16. >> 

WorkWell:  Enhanced Tool Assesses Injured Workers
WorkWell Systems, where George Carpenter is CEO, has debuted the industry’s most advanced Functional Capacity Evaluation, which provides valuable assessment of workers who have suffered injuries that could affect their employment. >>

Insurers' Tools Help Patients Question Doctors, Cut Costs
Some insurers are arming patients with tools and techniques to help them discuss clinical options and costs with their physicians. This month, Lumenos Inc., a unit of WellPoint, intends to start offering a service that lets its patients enter the names of drugs into their cellphone Web browsers, which will display a list of comparable drugs, ranked by how much they cost under Lumenos' plans, so that patients can ask their doctors about cheaper alternatives while they're still at their appointment. Also, an increasing number of insurers are sending letters directly to patients suggesting that they talk with their doctor about certain treatments, tests or medications that the insurers say might be appropriate or less costly. Resolution Health, where Harry Soza is Co-Founder, develops and sends such letters for insurers. Other insurers are making suggestions within financial statements they're sending home, or listing "questions to ask your doctor" on their Web sites. Meanwhile, Cigna intends to soon start telling patients typical prices of different types of doctor visits, including what types of services typically would be provided and how many minutes of face time the patient normally would get with the doctor, based on the price charged. (Wall Street Journal Online, 1/26/06)

Hospital CEOs Surveyed on Future of Healthcare
Deloitte & Touche has released results of a new survey, "The Future of Health Care: An Outlook from the Perspective of Hospital CEOs." Key highlights include: 
1) The financial state of the industry: 67% of CEOs report that their hospital is profitable. 29% believe their hospital could fail financially. 63% highlight the need for additional funding to cover the uninsured.  
2) Measuring and improving quality: 86% of CEOs believe that clinical/quality outcome data should be publicly available. More than 84% highlight education/training and standardization as having the greatest potential to reduce medical errors.  
3) Managing internal operations: 85% of CEOs expect technological advances to shift care to outpatient settings. 72% cite purchasing new equipment as a major capital need. 57% cite flexible work arrangements as the most effective strategy to address the nursing shortage.  
4) Views and expectations for government regulation and legislation: 60% of CEOs prefer a pay-or-play approach to give employers the option of providing coverage or paying additional taxes. 11% are changing the make-up of their boards in response to Sarbanes-Oxley legislation. (Managed Care Information Center, 1/31/06)

P4P Program May Increase from 1.5% to 10% of Salary
Performance-based pay for many California doctors would increase from 1.5% to 10% of their salaries in five years under a plan to expand the California Pay-for-Performance Program, which measures quality in patient satisfaction, adoption of computer technology and providing effective treatment and preventive care. Plan designers said the change could require reductions to annual across-the-board fee increases to physician groups paid by health plans. In addition, the plan would change how physician performance is evaluated by adding measures of medical outcomes, such as how well a physician helps a patient manage a chronic condition like diabetes. Currently, doctors are measured on how often patients are provided with appropriate care in 10 key areas. (Los Angeles Times, 2/6/06)

Workers' Comp Reforms Reduce Employer Costs by $8.1B
Reforms to California's workers' compensation insurance system have reduced costs to employers by at least $8.1 billion over the last three years, according to a Department of Industrial Relations study. Workers' comp insurance premiums declined by almost half since July 2003 and rates in California have dropped to 1996 levels, now lower than other large states such as Texas and Florida. The report found that private insurance companies, competing for business, are undercutting premium quotes from the State Compensation Insurance Fund by an average of 15.2% in 2005. As a result, State Fund in 2005 wrote workers' comp insurance policies for about 36% of California businesses, down from 58% in 2003. Workers' comp insurers have reported record profits, but shared 86% of the savings from the reforms with their customers, according to the study. (L.A. Times, 2/4/06) 

Stolen Medical Records Trigger Oregon AG's Investigation
The confidential medical records of more than 300,000 Providence Health System patients were recently stolen from an employee's minivan in Oregon. A thief had broken a window to gain access to the unencrypted records, which were stored on computer disks and digital tape that a Providence information systems analyst took home. Providence officials said it was customary for a manager or supervisor to take copies home as a readily available backup. The records contained names, addresses, Social Security information and sensitive health information. The Oregon attorney general's office said that Providence may have violated state law. (Health IT Strategist, 1/26/06)

Micro-Businesses Cite Cost as Barrier to Health Insurance
Numbering more than 18 million in the U.S., micro-businesses -- those with 10 or fewer employees -- create well over one-third of all new jobs, and 51.1% said they do not currently offer, nor plan to offer, a health insurance plan through their business for their employees or themselves. In a survey by The National Association for the Self-Employed, 62% of respondents cited cost as the single most significant barrier to offering healthcare to employees. Also, over 82% acknowledged having heard of HSAs, yet only 5.9% said they have established an HSA account. (Managed Care Information Center, 2/7/06)  Meanwhile, the percentage of businesses offering their workers health insurance dropped steadily over the last five years as the coverage cost continues to outpace inflation and wage growth, according to the 2005 Annual Employer Health Benefits Survey released by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust. 60% offered coverage to workers in 2005, down significantly from 69% in 2000 and 66% in 2003. The drop stems almost entirely from fewer small businesses offering health benefits, as 98% with 200+ workers offer such benefits. (Healthcare Industry Weekly Watch, 2/6/06)

Bush's Budget Proposal Cuts Medicare Spending
President Bush has sent a fiscal year 2007 $2.7 trillion budget proposal to Congress that includes $36 billion in spending reductions for Medicare over five years -- the budget's biggest single reduction. These reductions would total $105 billion over 10 years. Bush's Medicare proposal would reduce spending on the program, which the CBO estimates at $2.56 trillion over the next five years, by about 1.4%. (USA Today, 2/7/06) Also, Bush's budget proposal promotes health information technology as a high priority, and allocates $169 million to accelerate its adoption. (Health IT Strategist, 2/7/06)  For more specifics on Bush's healthcare-related proposals: >>

"7 Tips to Help You Help Your Parents with Medicare Part D," by Robin Raff of ECI Healthcare >>

Lessons & Resources from a Corporate Move: ABL Member John Tanner, CEO of Tanner Research, recently moved into a renovated 20,000-square-foot facility. Considering the scope of the move, it went very smoothly, just taking a week longer -- but costing significantly more -- than planned. So that we can all learn from his hard-earned experience, John captured his costs for future reference on the attached spreadsheet. >>  He also provides a list of vendors. >>