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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 --
Isotis
to be Acquired by Integra
Abraxis
Gets FDA OK, New Partner & New Facility
AIM
Acquired by WellPoint; Genentech Acquires Tanox
CalorieKing
Teams with Joslin to Fight Diabetes
El
Camino Rated Tops for Bariatric Surgery
GSK
& Targacept Partner to Treat CNS Diseases
IntelliDOT's CAREt Used at One of U.S. Largest Hospitals
Keenan
Provides Update on California Healthcare Reform
LA
Biomed's New Lab to Study Heart & Kidney Disease Link
L.A.
DHS Gets $2 Million to Treat Uninsured at LAC+USC
OneLegacy:
Minorities Play Critical Role in Organ Donation
PCG
Adds FACIS to its Product Suite
TOMR
Addresses Upcoming CMS-Mandated Disclosure
TripleTree
Hosts Webcasts on CRM
Vantage
Collaborates with Chicago-area Cancer Center
Good
News: ABL Members are FIVE TIMES Healthier than the National
Average
Scorecard Planned for California PPOs
Chassin to Head Joint Commission
Healthcare Leaders United Behind Reform Measures
Medicare Reimbursement to Rise by 3.5%
Budget Deadlock Delays Large Medi-Cal Provider Payments
Albert Gomez, MD, Strategic Healthcare Systems
Albert Gomez, MD, has
been CEO of Strategic Healthcare Systems (SHS) since 1996, and has
operated a private practice called Meridian Medical Group Professional
Corp. since 1992. Albert launched SHS to capitalize on his success with
Meridian as an independent, self-contained and financially
self-sufficient healthcare system that serves Spanish-speaking patients
in Northern California. Albert has lowered the cost of operating a
medical clinic through aggressive negotiation with labs, imaging
centers, hospitals and
pharmaceutical distributors, and by taking advantage of group
purchasing. The result is that Meridian’s uninsured, cash-paying
patients pay the same or lower rates than insurance companies pay. Meridian’s clinics see 300+ patients a day and over 60% of
them are new. SHS addresses the medical needs of all working
uninsured Americans and immigrants, providing the infrastructure and IT
systems that connect physicians, consumers and employers. This includes
web sites (in English and Spanish) where patients can find a doctor,
check credentials, review services and fees, make an appointment
on-line, obtain medical information, and purchase medical products and
services. Previously, Albert was Director of the Emergency Department at
St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco; worked for Biomedical Corporation
Emergency Physicians at Alexian Brothers Hospital in San Jose; and was
Medical Director of American Emergency Services in San Jose. He has
joined the Northern California Round Table.
Tony Kesman has Joined Linden LLC
Tony Kesman is a Senior Operating Partner at Linden LLC, a
Chicago-based private equity group focused exclusively on healthcare and
life science industries. With nearly 30 years of experience in
healthcare distribution, medical device and provider operations, Tony is
also Chairman of Focused Health Solutions, a national provider of
customized disease management services. Linden’s investment strategy is
to purchase controlling equity interests in mature, non-core businesses
and privately held companies that can benefit from strategic
redirection, operational improvements, growth capital and additions to
the management team. Linden invests primarily in leveraged buyouts and
late-stage transactions where it can be the lead investor or have
significant governance influence. The firm most recently announced its
investment in Behavioral Centers of America, whose facilities include
psychiatric hospitals, outpatient clinics and residential treatment
centers.
Isotis
to be Acquired by Integra
IsoTis, Inc., where Pieter Wolter is
CEO, and Integra LifeSciences Holdings
Corporation have announced a definitive agreement whereby Integra would
acquire IsoTis in an all cash transaction, expected to
be completed in Q4 of 2007. IsoTis will become
a wholly-owned subsidiary of Integra, which will be one of the largest
companies in the world focused on advanced technology in orthobiologics.
Abraxis
Gets FDA OK, New Partner & New Facility
The Abraxis Pharmaceutical Products business of Abraxis
BioScience, Inc., where Patrick Soon-Shiong,
MD, is CEO, has
received FDA approval
for its Abbreviated New Drug Application for Caffeine Citrate
injection, USP, 20 mg/mL. Also,
Abraxis and the California NanoSystems Institute
at UCLA have formed a partnership to collaborate on
early research in nanobiotechnology, and Abraxis has acquired from
Watson Pharmaceuticals a sterile injectable
manufacturing facility located in Phoenix, Arizona.
AIM
Acquired by WellPoint; Genentech Acquires Tanox
WellPoint, Inc. has completed its acquisition of American Imaging
Management, where David Soffa, MD, is Chief Medical Officer. Meanwhile,
Genentech, Inc., where Art Small heads Value-based Healthcare, has completed the
acquisition of Tanox, Inc.
CalorieKing
Teams with Joslin to Fight Diabetes
CalorieKing, where Keith McGuinness is CEO, a leading provider of calorie-centric education tools for food
awareness, and Joslin Diabetes Center have announced an alliance to promote type 2 diabetes awareness,
prevention and management. The first step of this campaign is access
to Joslin-authored material through the CalorieKing nutrition toolbar at
calorieking.com.
El
Camino Rated Tops for Bariatric Surgery
El Camino Hospital, where Ken Graham is CEO,
has been recognized with a five-star rating for clinical excellence in
the Second Annual HealthGrades Bariatric Surgery Trends in American
Hospitals Study, one of only 109 hospitals nationally to receive five
stars.
GSK
& Targacept Partner to Treat CNS Diseases
GlaxoSmithKline, where Arlene Kirsch is Area VP, and
Targacept, Inc. have formed a strategic alliance to
discover, develop and market novel therapeutics that selectively target
specified neuronal nicotinic receptors. Meanwhile,
HHS has placed another order with GSK to
purchase bulk H5N1 antigen for the U.S. national stockpile of pre-pandemic
vaccines.
IntelliDOT's CAREt
Used at One of U.S. Largest Hospitals
IntelliDOT Corporation, where Tom Klopack is CEO, has announced an agreement to
deploy its CAREt patient safety system at 2,335-bed New
York-Presbyterian Hospital, the largest not-for-profit,
nonsectarian hospital in the U.S.
Keenan
Provides Update on California Healthcare Reform
Keenan & Associates, where Steve Richter is Senior VP, Healthcare, has
published a briefing,
Update on California Healthcare Reform, that
discusses the status of several Assembly and Senate Bills currently
under consideration.
LA
Biomed's New Lab to Study Heart & Kidney Disease Link
The Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical
Center, where Ken Trevett is President, has announced the creation
of the
Scriba Family Trust Cardio-Renal Laboratories, where kidney researchers will work in close proximity to cardiovascular
specialists, geneticists, pathologists and hematologists to examine new
therapies to reduce the risk of premature death -- to be housed in a new research building
scheduled for groundbreaking in mid-2008.
L.A.
DHS Gets $2 Million to Treat Uninsured at LAC+USC
The Los Angeles Department of Health
Services, where John Cochran is Chief Deputy Director, and whose responsibilities include Los
Angeles County-USC Medical Center, has announced that charitable
organization QueensCare has given $2 million dollars to LAC+USC for
the treatment of
uninsured patients.
OneLegacy:
Minorities Play Critical Role in Organ Donation
OneLegacy, where Tom Mone is CEO, has
released new data indicating that in the greater Los Angeles area
Latinos account for 47% of the organ and tissue donors and people of
color account for about 66% of deceased organ donors. Benefiting from their own generosity, people of
color receive almost 80% of kidney donations - the organ of
greatest need across all ethnicities.
PCG
Adds FACIS to its Product Suite
PCG Software, where Andria Jacobs is COO, announced that Government
Management Services, where John O'Shaughnessy is President, has joined
PCG’s Affiliate Vendor program. GMS, the developer of FACIS (Fraud and Abuse Control
Information System), is adding risk management
capabilities to PCG's products, enabling both payer and provider
customers to screen individuals and entities for any history of
fraudulent practices.
TOMR
Addresses Upcoming CMS-Mandated Disclosures
Theodora Oringher Miller & Richman PC,
where Dale Miller is a Principal, has published a Health Care Legal
Update, entitled, "CMS Requires Hospitals to Disclose Financial
Arrangements with Physicians." Beginning in September
2007, initially 500 hospitals
will be required to make disclosures; later reporting will be mandated for
all Medicare participating
hospitals.
TripleTree
Hosts Webcasts on CRM
TripleTree, where Rob McCray is a Managing Partner, recently
released a major industry analysis report on the Customer Relationship
Management sector and will host three upcoming, related webcasts on
Software as a Service and Collaboration Tools.
Click here for more
information.
Vantage
Collaborates with Chicago-area Cancer Center
Vantage Oncology, Inc., where Mike Fiore is CEO, has entered into a
joint venture with Valley Cancer Center, of central Illinois, to provide capital, advanced information technologies, and
management experience that will enable Valley to upgrade
its internal operations and current technology.
Good News: ABL
Members are FIVE TIMES Healthier than the National Average
Bad
news: That's not saying much! Thanks to the generosity of
Margaret Sabin's Sutter Health Partners (SHP), over 100
ABL Healthcare Members were sent a Personal Wellness Profile
to complete and return to SHP for "analysis." So far the
first 20 profiles have been received and when compared to a
national study of U.S. adults, on the basis of the primary
"Healthy Lifestyle Characteristics":
- non-smoking
- healthy weight (BMI <25)
- five fruits and vegetables per day
- regular physical activity
15% of
our "profile submitting Members" exhibited all four of these
characteristics. So why is that
five times
better than the national average? You guessed it: because
nationally, only 3% of Americans are meeting all four of
these goals! Little wonder we're spending $2 trillion on
our healthcare, when, according to Margaret's research, 72%
of all disease is
preventable through healthy lifestyle choices -
that most of us aren't making.
Over lunch, Margaret shared that she'd lowered her LDL cholesterol level just by foregoing brie. I figured if she could do it, so could I. The result: my LDL dropped 19% between readings 90 days apart - and the only significant change I made to my diet was cutting back on brie and other cheeses. While I'm still not among our esteemed "Top 15%" group (eating five servings of fruits and, particularly, veggies, will not be easy), I'm at least working on it.
Ideally, all
of our Members will take advantage of this opportunity to
discover our lifestyle "shortcomings," and start fine-tuning
our habits.
Congratulations to those of you in that top
15%! And for the rest of us, let's
commit to getting there: one pound, one green bean, 30 minutes
of exercise, at a time.
Scorecard Planned for California PPOs
The
Department of Insurance has unveiled a new healthcare report
card program for six of California's largest PPOs: Aetna, Blue
Shield of California, Cigna, Health Net, UnitedHealth Group
and Wellpoint. These insurers have agreed to voluntarily
provide data on quality of care and patient satisfaction
rather than go through a lengthy regulatory process.
The department beginning in 2009 will issue an annual report
card, awarding one to four stars in:
Preventive care; Effectiveness of treatment;
Dealing with chronic illnesses; and Patient satisfaction.
The data will be compiled and analyzed by a third party, such
as a PPO accreditation organization. The information then will
be turned over to the state.
(Sacramento Bee, 8/7/07)
Chassin to Head Joint Commission
Health policy expert and former commissioner of the New York
State Health Department Mark Chassin has been appointed to
replace Dennis O'Leary as President of the Joint Commission,
effective Jan. 1, 2008. (Modern Healthcare's daily IT
enewsletter, 8/1/07)
Healthcare Leaders United Behind Reform Measures
According
to a survey of 214 experts from four broad areas of the
healthcare spectrum by the Commonwealth Fund Health Care
Opinion Leaders:
About
90% of respondents think that health information technology
should be mandated for Medicare providers within the next 10
years, and 70% think that the federal government should help
to finance this reform. Over 50% support financial incentives
for hospitals and physicians to provide high-quality care.
Only 7% believed that the current Patient Safety and Quality
Improvement Act is sufficient in guaranteeing patient safety.
Nearly 60% support the public reporting of performance on
quality measures. Approximately 75% support Medicare reform
that would pay medical homes for care coordination. (Medical
homes are a healthcare setting that provides patients with
timely, well-organized care, and enhanced access to
providers.) (Healthcare
Daily Data Byte, 08/7/07)
Medicare Reimbursement to Rise by 3.5%
CMS issued a final rule for inpatient hospital services in
fiscal 2008 that would increase total Medicare reimbursement
by an estimated 3.5% and include 745 new DRGs to more
accurately account for patient severity. (Modern Physician Alert, 8/2/07)
Budget Deadlock Delays Large Medi-Cal Provider Payments
The ongoing budget stalemate in California has forced the
Department of Finance to withhold a $212.6 million payment
scheduled this week to hospitals, clinics and nursing homes
that treat Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The delayed Medi-Cal
payment will be the second in two weeks, with state officials
last week withholding a $227 million payment to Medi-Cal
providers. California's budget is six weeks overdue. The
Assembly on July 20 approved a spending plan, but Senate
Republicans have held out for more spending cuts and other
demands. Senate Republicans argue that if Gov. Schwarzenegger
and Senate Democrats were serious about delayed payments
during the budget deadlock, they could have passed emergency
legislation last week to continue funding. Instead, the
Democrats refused to waive procedural rules to consider the
measure. (Sacramento Bee, 8/7/07)
8/9 - Northern California Round Table
8/15 - Life Sciences
Round Table
8/17 - Los Angeles Round Table
9/5 - Orange County 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