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 --

El Camino & Good Sam Rated Tops in Women's Services
Abraxis Teams with USC to Treat Colorectal Cancers
AT&T Chosen by Critical Care Systems; Wins Stevie Awards
Medicare Testing Personal Health Records
DWT Details Latest Round of Mandatory Reporting
Genentech Partners with Abbott to Fight Cancer
HeartMath Praised by Pro Golfer Dougherty
IntelliDOT Debuts Breast Milk Matching System
PCG's Jacobs Discusses Claims Adjudication Enhancements
Sacred Heart Performs Breakthrough Cancer Treatment
Sutter Health Gives $1 Million to CalRHIO
TOMR Law Firm Addresses the Medicare Appeals Process
TripleTree Presents Webcast on Software as a Service

El Camino & Good Sam Rated Tops in Women's Services
Congratulations to El Camino Hospital, where Ken Graham is CEO, and Good Samaritan Hospital, where Andy Leeka is CEO, who were both named among the nation's top-rated (five-stars) hospitals for Women's Health Services by HealthGrades. The HealthGrades study analyzed the outcomes of women admitted with heart disease and stroke to more than 2,000 U.S. hospitals.

Abraxis Teams with USC to Treat Colorectal Cancers
Abraxis BioScience, Inc., where Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, is CEO, has announced an agreement with the University of Southern California that provides Abraxis with the exclusive worldwide development and commercialization rights for an intellectual property portfolio of diagnostic protein biomarkers for therapy response, therapy toxicity and disease recurrence in colorectal cancers. 

AT&T Chosen by Critical Care Systems; Wins Stevie Awards
AT&T Inc., where Judi Manis heads the Healthcare Market Group, has announced a new contract to provide network services to Critical Care Systems International, Inc., a national provider of specialty infusion services. AT&T will serve as the primary network and data services provider to Critical Care Systems and will equip the company with AT&T's Internet Protocol-enabled Virtual Private Network services.  Meanwhile, AT&T recently won two Stevie Awards in the 2007 American Business Awards, for Sales Excellence with the AT&T eSales and Service organization, and for Best New Product or Service in Telecommunications with the AT&T BusinessDirect mobile capabilities.

Medicare Testing Personal Health Records
CMS, where Jeff Flick is Regional Administrator and Dave Sayen is Associate Regional Administrator, has announced a new pilot program that will enable certain beneficiaries to access and use a Personal Health Record provided through participating health plans -- including Kaiser Permanente, where Christine Paige is a senior executive, and accessible through www.mymedicare.gov. The PHR tools will allow the beneficiary to look up information about their own medications and medical conditions to help them manage their own healthcare. 

DWT Details Latest Round of Mandatory Reporting
Davis Wright Tremaine, where Gerry Hinkley is a Partner, has published an Advisory Bulletin, entitled "The Specter of Mandatory Stark Reporting Rears its Head (Again)." It says, in part: " CMS has begun the process to require 500 hospitals to provide a broad range of detailed information about their financial relationships with physicians, including copies of documents that define these relationships. The CEO or CFO will be required to certify in writing that the submission is “true and correct to the best of my belief and knowledge." ... "Even if you are not one of the 'Lucky 500,' you might want to consider whether your hospital could respond appropriately and comprehensively in the time allotted." Click here for the full Advisory Bulletin.

Genentech Partners with Abbott to Fight Cancer
Genentech, Inc., where Art Small is a senior executive, and Abbott have formed a collaboration for the global research, development and commercialization of two of Abbott's investigational anti-cancer compounds -- targeted therapies that represent promising, unique scientific approaches to treating cancer. 

HeartMath Praised by Pro Golfer Dougherty
Nick Dougherty, a professional golfer and client of HeartMath, where Bruce Cryer is CEO, recently discussed his use of HeartMath's techniques to improve his game: "I've embarked on a program of controlled breathing that makes the heartbeat more coherent. There's scientific evidence that it helps to settle the mind and keep you in the zone," he explained. "I've only just started the course and it's paid off already," he added, referring to the ease in which he booked a place at his third successive U.S. Open when he jointly led the European qualifiers at Walton Heath. (Manchester Evening News, 6/13/07) [Editor's note: The Liverpool golfer qualified for the U.S. Open, led after the first day at Oakmont and eventually finished joint seventh five strokes behind Angel Cabrera. (Ireland Online, 6/22/07)]

IntelliDOT Debuts Breast Milk Matching System
IntelliDOT Corporation, where Tom Klopack is CEO, has announced its CAREt™ Breast Milk Matching System, which electronically matches milk containers brought to the neonatal ICU by the mother and assures they are fed to the correct infant.  Also, IntelliDOT announced the successful facility-wide implementations of its CAREt Bedside Medication Administration System in 257-bed Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center, in Missouri, as well as 100-bed Physician’s Regional Medical Center, Collier Boulevard, in Florida.

PCG's Jacobs Discusses Claims Adjudication Enhancements
Andria Jacobs, COO of PCG Software, recently published an article in Healthcare Informatics, entitled: "Claims Benefits: Claims adjudication enhancements fight fraud, reduce abuse and contain cost, which add up to a bigger bottom line." Click here for the full article.

Sacred Heart Performs Breakthrough Cancer Treatment
The first minimally invasive procedure to treat a tumor of the liver was recently performed at Sacred Heart Medical Center, where Skip Davis is CEO -- the only medical center in Washington state to offer this procedure. Using a process called embolization, radioactive beads are passed through blood vessels to treat the liver tumor directly. While surgery and chemotherapy are currently the first line of therapy, this new procedure provides hope for patients who thought they had run out of options.

Sutter Health Gives $1 Million to CalRHIO
The Sutter Health network of physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare service providers, where Margaret Sabin is CEO of Sutter Health Partners and Walter Kopp is Acting COO of the Physicians Foundation at California Pacific Medical Center, has granted $1 million to The California Regional Health Information Organization (CalRHIO), the nonprofit statewide initiative to improve healthcare safety, quality, and efficiency through the use of information technology and the secure, confidential exchange of health information throughout California.

TOMR Law Firm Addresses the Medicare Appeals Process
Theodora Oringher Miller & Richman PC, where Dale Miller is a Principal, has published a Health Care Legal Update, entitled, "The Medicare Appeals Process: Strategies for Defending Medicare Audits." Click here for the full Update.

TripleTree Presents Webcast on Software as a Service
TripleTree, where Rob McCray is a Managing Partner, and the SIIA will host a webcast on Software as a Service, entitled "Emerging Business Opportunities for IT Outsourcing & Managed Services," on July 11, 2007, at 9:30 a.m. PT. Click for more information.

UPCOMING ROUND TABLES & EVENTS

7/12 - Northern California Round Table
7/18 - Combined Orange County Healthcare & Life Sciences Tables
7/20 - Los Angeles Round Table
7/27 - Membership-wide Social at Bower's Museum: Treasures from Shanghai, Gems!, and Mummies

For the most current ABL Healthcare Online and access to ABL.org, go to
 http://www.abl.org/new/html/resources_news_hc.asp