ABL HEALTHCARE ONLINE  
JUNE 22, 2010
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Jim Wu, AccuTech, LLC

Jim Wu is President of AccuTech, a leading manufacturer of home tests and point-of-care products, including tests that measure total and HDL cholesterol to assess one's heart disease risk; that measure prostate-specific antigen and the presence of blood in the stool to assess prostate and colon cancer risk; and that measure the level of illicit substances in urine. AccuTech was the first to manufacture and sell a single-use cholesterol home test - CholesTrak®, sold today in 30,000 retail stores, in over 11 countries and on the Internet. The company also manufactures AccuMeter®, a single-use, hand-held cassette technology that is a non-instrumented quantitative testing device protected by 15 patents. Jim has joined the San Diego Round Table.

Crescent’s Funari Named Entrepreneur of the Year
Congratulations to Bob Funari, CEO of Crescent Healthcare, on being named 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the Turnaround category in the Orange County/Desert Cities region. He is now eligible for the national Entrepreneur of the Year awards, which will be presented in November.

VQ OrthoCare Awarded for High-Tech Innovation
Congratulations to VQ OrthoCare, where Jim Knape is CEO, on winning a TechAmerica Orange County High-Tech Innovation Award, in the Innovative Product/Technology - Medical Device category, for its BioniCare Knee System and OActive Brace.

ABRAXANE Shows Potential for Melanoma
Abraxis BioScience, where Patrick Soon-Shiong is Executive Chairman, is investigating the potential of nab-driven chemotherapy to deliver cytotoxic agents directly to the tumor microenvironment through a previously unrecognized tumor-activated, albumin-specific biologic pathway in the most difficult-to-treat cancer types, including metastatic malignant melanoma.

Accuray Partners with Siemens
In a strategic alliance, Accuray, Inc., where Euan Thomson is CEO, has given Siemens the right to sell the CyberKnife System globally, and Siemens will purchase and incorporate elements of Accuray’s technology in its linear accelerator products. The two companies are also creating an R&D alliance to explore potential synergies.

A-Life a Finalist for Red Herring 100
A-Life Medical, where Jaye Connolly is President, is a Finalist for Red Herring’s North America 100 award, based upon its technological innovation, management strength, market size, investor record, customer acquisition, and financial health. Winners will be announced on June 24.

Axene to Scrutinize Insurance Rates in California
Individual health insurance rate changes submitted in California will undergo analysis by an outside actuarial firm, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has announced. The decision comes after Axene Health Partners, where John Price is a Principal, found mathematical errors in the rate increase filed by Anthem Blue Cross of California. The WellPoint subsidiary this spring withdrew the rate increase, which would have been up to 39% for individual policyholders. Axene will conduct similar reviews on all rate changes for individual insurance policies submitted to the department. (ModernHealthcare.com, 6/16/10)

Buck Institute to Build New Research Facility
In September 2010, The Buck Institute for Age Research, where Mary McEachron is Interim COO, will break ground on a state-of-the-art biomedical research facility, due to open in March 2012, dedicated to understanding how the regeneration of human cells and tissues can be used to treat life-threatening diseases of older age. The projected cost of the new building is $41 million; the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine has pledged $20.5 million, contingent on the Buck Institute raising a similar amount from other external sources.

CalOptima Continues Role with OC’s Healthy Families
For the 13th year in a row, the State of California’s Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board has designated CalOptima, where Richard Chambers is CEO and Greg Buchert is COO, as the Community Provider Plan for the Healthy Families Program in Orange County.

CIGNA Wins Platinum Award for Employee Health
CIGNA HealthCare, where Chris De Rosa is Southern California/Nevada President, received a Platinum Award from the National Business Group on Health, for its commitment and dedication to promoting a healthy workplace and lifestyles. Recently, 8,600 CIGNA employees - roughly one-third of the company’s U.S. workforce - completed the first 10-week Shape Up CIGNA Healthy Life Team Challenge. Collectively, participants lost nearly 20,000 pounds and logged 15.9 million minutes of physical activity - the equivalent of 30 years.

El Camino Utilizes Community Advisors
El Camino Hospital, where Ken Graham is CEO, announced the inaugural meeting of its 17-member Community Advisory Council, a diverse cross-section of professionals from the communities served by El Camino Hospital Los Gatos. Group members bring a community perspective and subject-area expertise to help hospital administration plan programs and services; they’ll also help connect the hospital to key community constituencies.

GSK Acquires Phoenix of Argentina
GlaxoSmithKline, where Arlene Kirsch is Area VP, has acquired Laboratorios Phoenix S.A.C.yF, a leading Argentine pharmaceutical business, for approximately $253 million cash.

HeartMath Addresses Emotional Eating
HeartMath, where Bruce Cryer is CEO, is participating in a free, live webcast - "Discover the Missing Factor in Weight Loss" - on June 24. Click for more information.

IBM Announces Cancer Research Breakthrough
The Help Conquer Cancer project, in conjunction with IBM, where Bill Craddock is Client Service Leader West of Global Business Services, and World Community Grid, a system of linked PCs from volunteers who donate spare processing power for humanitarian projects, announced a scientific breakthrough system to automate and accelerate a manual, complex process that enables researchers to more easily discover the structure of cancer-related proteins and, eventually, formulate cancer cures. This new approach may also help the exploration of other diseases and food-related research.

Keenan Discusses Grandfathered Health Plans
Keenan, where Steve Richter is Senior VP, has published a new Brief, Health Care Reform: Grandfathered Plans – Regulations Issued, which discusses the preservation and forfeiture of grandfathered health plan coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Paul Hastings' Sanchez Honored by Chambers
Carl Sanchez, San Diego Managing Partner of Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker, has been named to Chambers USA’s 2010 list of leading lawyers and law firms in the U.S., in the Southern California Corporate/Mergers and Acquisitions category. Paul Hastings as a firm was noted for its “exemplary” and “diligent” work, and its lawyers were described as “responsive” and “the best.”

Quality Systems’ NextGen Chosen by New York
The NextGen subsidiary of Quality Systems Inc, where Steve Plochocki is CEO, has been named a preferred vendor of electronic health records by New York eHealth Collaborative and a selected vendor for NYC Regional Electronic Adoption Center for Health, the federally designated Regional Extension Centers for New York State and New York City, respectively.

UPCOMING ROUND TABLES & EVENTS

7/7 -  Orange County Round Table Event: "Investing in
         Reformed Healthcare" Investors' Panel
7/13 - Silicon Valley Round Table
7/14 - San Francisco Round Table
7/16 - Los Angeles Round Table
7/20 - San Diego Round Table

Patent Granted to New Stem Cell Method
The first-ever patent for developing stem cells without creating or destroying a human embryo has been approved and issued to International Stem Cell Corp. (ISCO), which could provide a way to avoid the ethical controversy associated with stem cell research. Called parthenogenetic stem cell development, the patented method induces an unfertilized egg to create cells as it would in pregnancy, allowing researchers to derive the same pluripotent cells used in embryonic stem cell research to potentially produce tissue for sick patients. The ultimate goal is to create a cell bank where, much like a blood bank, a patient with a particular disease can find a cell that matches his immune system, said an ISCO spokesman, adding that the simplicity of the structure resulting from the parthenogenetic process makes the probability of success much higher. (Law360.com, 6/9/10)

Healthcare Can Cut $3.6 Trillion in Waste
The U.S. healthcare industry can eliminate $3.6 trillion in waste over the next 10 years by addressing a series of operational inefficiencies, according to a report from Thomson Reuters. The proposed strategies include: *Engage consumers: by engaging the public in discussions with their caregivers regarding the value and risk of specific treatment options, it’s possible to dramatically reduce money spent for unnecessary treatments. *Coordinate care: Healthcare providers lacking access to patients' medical records leads to the duplication of tests and inappropriate treatments that are estimated to cost up to $50 billion annually. Simple incentives have made a significant difference in the implementation of EMRs in several healthcare systems. *Manage disease and maintain wellness: This strategy ensures that patients are actively engaged, along with their clinicians, in managing their own health through attention to personal behavior, disease prevention, early detection and appropriate care for chronic diseases. *Design for patient safety and quality: Preventable medical errors account for $50B to $100B in annual healthcare spending. By implementing a simple checklist approach based on evidence-based best practices, several healthcare systems have improved patient outcomes and reduced costs. *Reduce opportunities for fraud: In 2007, when the U.S. spent roughly $2.3T on healthcare, fraud was estimated to account for 5% to 10% of healthcare spending, according to a report published by George Washington University. Computerized systems that track data anomalies to identify fraud and breaches in payment integrity have been proven to stem these costs in several state Medicaid programs. (HealthImaging News, 6/15/10)

Employers’ Healthcare Costs to Rise 9%
Medical costs are expected to increase by 9% in 2011, a decrease of 0.5% from the 2010 growth rate, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The higher medical cost trend is based on hospitals shifting costs from Medicare to private payers and employers, increasing provider consolidation and hospital systems’ plans of EHR implementation.
     Other emerging employer trends: More employers are raising out-of-pocket limits, replacing co-pays with co-insurance and adding high-deductible health plans. Next year, more employers plan to drop health benefits for retirees and/or expand or improve wellness programs, according to the report, and 42% intend to increase employee contributions for health insurance coverage, while 41% plan to increase medical cost-sharing for employees. (HealthImaging News, 6/15/10)

HSA Enrollment Reaches 10 Million
Ten million Americans are now covered by Health Savings Account-eligible insurance plans, an increase of 25% since last year, according to a new census released by America’s Health Insurance Plans. Also, between January 2009 and January 2010, the fastest growing market for HSA/HDHP products was large-group coverage, which rose by 33%, followed by small-group coverage, which grew by 22%, the census found. 30% of individuals covered by an HSA plan were in the small group market, 50% were in the large-group market, and the remaining 20% were in the individual market. In the individual market, 2.1 million individuals were enrolled in HSA plans, while nearly 3M were enrolled in HSA/HDHP coverage in the small-group market and almost 5M were covered in the large-group market. States with the highest levels of HSA/HDHP enrollment were California (1,018,000), Ohio (651,000), Florida (639,000), Texas (637,000), Illinois (575,000) and Minnesota (361,000).  (Healthcare Daily Data Byte, 6/3/10)

Medicare Claims Now Paid at Reduced Rate
CMS has instructed its Medicare contractors to start processing claims for physician payments at a 21.3% reduced rate after Congress failed to pass legislation blocking a Medicare payment reduction that took effect as called for by the Sustainable Growth Rate formula. The 21.3% payment reduction technically took effect on June 1, but CMS told its contractors to hold off processing claims for the first 17 days of June to avoid having to pay physicians at the greatly reduced rate, particularly as it was likely Congress would act to stop the reduction a few days later.     
     Although the Senate did reach an agreement to provide a 2.2% increase in the Medicare payment rate until Nov. 30, it requires House approval before it can take effect. Last May the House passed a bill that would have provided a 2.2% increase in the Medicare payment rate for the rest of 2010 and a 1% increase in 2011. However, since the Senate could only agree on a 2.2% physician payment update until Nov. 30, it must now go back to the House for a final vote on the measure next week. According to CMS, "if Congress changes the negative update currently in effect, CMS is prepared to act expeditiously to make the appropriate changes to Medicare claims processing systems." (PharmPro.com, 6/21/10)

Medicaid to Increase Coverage, Decrease Cost
The expansion of Medicaid under the new health reform law will increase the number of people covered by the program and significantly reduce the amount of uninsured individuals in the U.S., according to analysis released by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Findings include: *Medicaid enrollment will increase by 15.9 million more people by 2019 than it otherwise would have. *The number of uninsured will fall by more than 11M. *The cost of the Medicaid expansion between 2014-19 would be jointly financed, with the federal government paying $443.5 billion (95.4% of the total cost) and the states contributing $21.2B. *California and Texas, two states with considerable numbers of uninsured residents, are each projected to see 1.4M fewer uninsured adults in 2019 due to the Medicaid expansion. The federal government will cover 94% of the cost in California and 95% in Texas. (Healthcare Daily Data Byte, 6/17/10)

UC Nurses Barred from Rescheduling Strike
Last week, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Peter Busch granted an injunction that will prevent about 11,000 University of California nurses from holding a strike over staffing concerns. On June 8, Busch issued a temporary restraining order that barred the nurses from participating in a one-day, multi-hospital strike on June 10. The new injunction prohibits the nurses from rescheduling the walkout. In his latest ruling, Busch said the strike would be an unfair labor practice that would violate technicalities in the nurses' contracts, and said the strike would put unfair pressure on the negotiation process between nurses and UC. (San Francisco Chronicle, 6/19; AP/Santa Cruz Sentinel, 6/18/10)