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For
the
most current ABL Healthcare Online
and access to ABL.org, go to
http://www.abl.org/new/html/resources_news_hc.asp
-- Click on Titles Below to Go to Each News Item --
9th Annual Innovations in HealthcareSM Awards Event:
June 6, 2007, in Newport Beach - Register Now!
HealthCare Partners
Appoints Wing COO; Posts Prices Online
LA Biomed Building Collaborative Research Facility
Aperio
Expands Leadership Position in Digital Pathology
Care Level Management Saves $$ for Private Insurers
HeartMath
Adds Chinese Partner &
Upgrades emWave
Isotis Closes on $20 Million
Kaiser
Permanente Funds Institute for Labor Community
LifeMasters Provides Services to Ford and UAW
Orqis Trial Nears Enrollment Completion
PCG Signs HCIM as Affiliate Vendor
Vantage Opens Cutting-Edge Radiation Therapy Center
Vocera Honored in the U.K. for VoIP Innovation
Walgreens
Acquires Convenient Care Clinic Chain
Survey Examines Stats on Healthcare Costs in California
Coming to a Theater Near You: Michael Moore's "Sicko"
Hospital Mortality Rates to Go Online in June
Increase in State Funds Could Stave Off Nurse Shortage
State Officials Take Action
CCHIT Opens Final Comment Period
In
each issue of
ABL Healthcare Online leading up to
the Ninth Annual
Innovations in HealthcareSM
Awards Event
on
June 6th, we are profiling this year's honorees; today meet
Conceptus, Inc.; Integrated Healthcare Association; and
Sutter Health
>>
Click here to register and/or get more information on
the Wednesday, June 6th Awards Event in Newport Beach, which will honor
and award companies that are offering
some of the most innovative Value-Driven Healthcare
solutions to
significant challenges facing the industry
today.
HealthCare Partners Appoints Wing COO; Posts Prices Online
HealthCare
Partners has named Chris Wing EVP and COO,
responsible for national oversight for
operating performance of HCP's various business units. He will
also lead new business development and growth efforts for the
company's related divisions, with operations currently in four
states: California, Florida, Nevada and Utah.
Meanwhile,
HealthCare Partners
has become one of the first doctor groups in the nation, and
almost certainly the largest at 500,000+ patients, to make
prices for its medical procedures widely available to
consumers. The group now posts on its website prices for 58
common procedures. It also acknowledges that additional tests
and procedures deemed necessary by a physician will add to the
patient's bottom line, and offers a toll-free support line
that patients can call for answers and more detailed
information on costs. (L.A. Times, 5/28/07)
LA Biomed Building Collaborative
Research Facility
The Los Angeles Biomedical Research
Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where Ken Trevett is
CEO, recently broke ground on its new state-of-the-art Hanley-Hardison Research Center,
which will combine six departments under one roof, and bring together 14
of LA BioMed’s leading researchers in the fields of medicine, pathology,
psychiatry, neurology, surgery and obstetrics/gynecology.
Aperio
Expands Leadership Position in Digital Pathology
Congratulations to Aperio Technologies, where Dirk Soenksen is CEO,
on the announcement that it now
has an installed base of more than 250 systems in 23
countries, including more than half of the top 13
pharmaceutical companies and more than two-thirds of the top
14 rated U.S. hospitals, per the 2006 U.S. News & World
Report, Best Hospitals.
Care Level Management Saves $$ for Private Insurers
Care Level Management, where Raouf
Khalil is CEO,
was recently
featured in The New York Times, which noted that
independent audits show that CLM has reduced hospital
admissions for private-insurer patients by 60% on average, for
a net cost savings to clients of about 30%. (NY Times,
5/16/07)
HeartMath Adds Chinese Partner & Upgrades emWave
HeartMath
LLC, where Bruce Cryer is CEO, has formed a new alliance
with Genesis Education Group, of China, which trains more than
100,000 people a year in Chinese corporations, government
agencies, academic and public organizations. Genesis has
formed a new subsidiary called G-Heart, which will provide
HeartMath’s training programs and technologies.
Also, HeartMath has
released its new emWave PC Stress Relief System (previously
called Freeze-Framer) with upgraded features and enhancements.
Isotis Closes on $20 Million
Isotis, Inc., where Pieter Wolters is CEO,
has secured a $20 million credit facility
with Merrill Lynch Capital and Silicon Valley Bank.
Also, Isotis has
expanded its private label agreement with AlloSource, its primary supply
partner and one of the nation's largest non-profit providers of bone and
soft tissue allografts for use in surgical procedures.
Kaiser Permanente Funds
Institute for Labor Community
Kaiser Permanente,
where Christine Paige is a senior executive, and the
Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions are jointly donating
$450,000 to the National Labor College in
Maryland, to fund the Kaiser Permanente Healthcare
Institute, a program dedicated to educating labor leaders and union
members on healthcare issues -- thought to be the first such grant
from a major healthcare provider to an institution serving the labor
community.
LifeMasters Provides Services to
Ford and UAW
LifeMasters Supported SelfCare, where
Chris Selecky is CEO, has
signed an agreement to offer disease management services to eligible
employees of Ford Motor Company and members of United Auto Workers -- to motivate employees to develop and
maintain healthy habits.
Orqis Trial Nears Enrollment
Completion
Orqis Medical Corporation, where Ken
Charhut is CEO, announced that the 150th patient has been
enrolled in its MOMENTUM
Pivotal Trial, which
is studying the use of the percutaneous Cancion® System in heart failure
patients. With 200 patients needed for study completion, the trial
is now 75% enrolled.
PCG Signs HCIM as Affiliate Vendor
PCG Software, where Andria Jacobs is
COO, announced that HealthCare Information Management,
Inc. has joined
the company’s Affiliate Vendor program. The two companies will leverage
their combined technology and consulting expertise to develop new
products that will streamline the processing of medical claims and help
end abusive billing practices for healthcare organizations.
Vantage Opens Cutting-Edge Radiation Therapy Center
Vantage Oncology Inc., where Mike Fiore is CEO, has
opened its new West Hills Radiation Therapy Center, which offers patient access
to a highly trained team of board-certified radiation oncologists
and $5 million of new radiation treatment equipment and
facility upgrades. Under the direction of physicians, these advanced clinical treatment options permit
precise targeting of radiation to a tumor, sparing critical
healthy organs, providing for better outcomes and fewer side
effects for patients.
Vocera Honored in the U.K. for VoIP Innovation
Vocera Communications,
where Brent Lang is Acting CEO, recently won a
Wireless Broadband Innovation Award for Best VoIP Product or
Service at a ceremony in London, chosen by 2600 industry
specialists registered to vote from among 170 submissions. The Vocera Communications System
has been successfully implemented in NHS Trusts and individual
hospitals across the U.K.
Walgreens Acquires Convenient Care
Clinic Chain
Walgreen Co.,
where Eileen Goodis, Pharm.D. is VP of Walgreens Home Care,
has completed its acquisition of Take Care Health Systems, a
leading operator of convenient care clinics, which combined
with Walgreens' nearly 5,700
pharmacies, will form the core for the future
rollout of a variety of patient-focused healthcare services.
Survey Examines Stats on Healthcare Costs in California
Californians, who for many years paid some of the lowest HMO
premiums in the U.S., now are paying about the same rates as
the rest of the country, according to an employer survey by
the California HealthCare Foundation. Survey findings include:
health insurance premiums rose 8.7% in 2006 – more than twice
the 4.2% rate of inflation in California. 25% of workers in
small firms experienced premium increases greater than 15%.
41% of large employers in California reported that they were
"very likely" to increase the amount employees pay for health
insurance premiums in 2007, with only 28% "somewhat likely" to ask
employees to pay more. California workers paid
$547 annually for single coverage and $2,824 for family
coverage. Workers in small firms paid significantly more out
of pocket for family coverage than did those in large firms.
16% of California employers offered a high-deductible health
plan in 2006 and 6% offered a health savings account-eligible
high-deductible health plan. (CHCF.org)
Coming to a Theater Near You:
Michael Moore's "Sicko"
Michael Moore's new documentary about the U.S. healthcare
industry, "Sicko," makes its U.S. debut on June 29, and has
already premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. America's
Health Insurance Plans President Karen Ignagni said that the
film might encourage the government to provide more funding
for healthcare for the uninsured. In its cover story featuring
Michael Moore, Entertainment Weekly profiled six
"segments" that didn't make it into the film -- basically
providing a counter thesis extolling America's research,
biotech and medical marvels, unrivaled in other countries with
national health systems. (New York Times, 5/22/07)
Hospital Mortality Rates to Go Online in June
CMS in
June will post the first broad comparison of hospital
mortality rates for heart attack and heart failure in Medicare
beneficiaries on the Hospital Compare Web site, which will
include information on whether the 30-day mortality rates for
the conditions at more than 4,000 hospitals nationwide are
higher than, lower than or equal to the national average.
(USA Today, 5/23/07)
Increase in State Funds Could Stave Off Nurse Shortage
California by 2014 will need 40,000 additional full-time
nurses to treat an aging population, but the number is
expected to grow by only 28,000, according to a report from
the state legislative analyst. To address this, the report
called for lawmakers to: Award "completion bonuses" to increase nursing school
budgets at community colleges that improve graduation rates;
Provide bonuses of $5,000 per additional graduate to colleges
that reduce nursing school dropout rates; and Increase
the number of educational loan grants offered to attract
additional nursing faculty. Such grants can forgive up to
$25,000 in education loans for graduates of nursing programs
who go on to teach at a state college or university. It's also
recommended that colleges and universities adopt merit-based
application procedures to reward nursing applicants for
professional experience, language skills and other
qualifications. Only 11,000 out of 28,410 applicants were
accepted to a nursing program, the report found.
(Sacramento Bee, 5/30/07)
State Officials Take Action
Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has proposed a 14.2%
reduction in workers' compensation insurance rates and ordered
a state investigation into whether injured workers receive
proper medical care in a timely manner. As such, the Insurance
Department will collaborate with the state Division of
Workers' Comp to investigate the physician review process and
ensure that medical care for injured workers is not improperly
delayed or denied.
Meanwhile,
Richard
Fantozzi, president-elect of the Medical Board of California,
said he will use his one-year term as president to bolster
physicians' acceptance of telemedicine. (San Diego
Union-Tribune, 5/29 & 5/30/07; Sacramento Bee, 5/30/07)
CCHIT Opens Final Comment Period
A final
comment period on the Certification Commission for Healthcare
Information Technology's proposed certification criteria and
test scripts for inpatient electronic health records runs May
29 through June 19. The commission's board will approve final
documents at a June 25 meeting, and then CCHIT will start
accepting applications for certification under the new
criteria Aug. 1.
(Health IT Strategist, 5/29/07)
6/6 - Innovations in HealthcareSM Awards Event
7/12 - Northern California Round Table
7/18 - Combined Orange County Healthcare & Life Sciences
Tables
7/20 - Los Angeles Round Table
For
the
most current ABL Healthcare Online and access to ABL.org, go to
http://www.abl.org/new/html/resources_news_hc.asp