ABL HEALTHCARE ONLINE  
JULY 20, 2010
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Todd Clyde, Digirad Corporation

Todd Clyde is President, CEO, and Member of the Board of Directors of Digirad, which develops and manufactures solid-state gamma cameras for nuclear cardiology and general nuclear medicine applications. It’s also one of the largest national providers of in-office nuclear cardiology imaging services to physician practices, hospitals and imaging centers, providing support and service to nearly 1,000 clients. Todd joined Digirad as CFO in 2002, became EVP in 2007, and CEO in 2008. Prior to Digirad, he held senior finance and accounting positions at Verance Corporation, I-Bus/Phoenix and Ernst & Young. Referred by Technology Channel Strategies' Jim Wittry, Todd has joined the San Diego Healthcare Executives Round Table.

Peter van der Wal, HemaCare Corporation

Pete van der Wal is President, CEO, and Member of the Board of Directors of HemaCare, which collects, processes and distributes blood products to hospitals and research-related organizations. FDA-licensed and AABB-accredited, HemaCare also provides therapeutic apheresis procedures, stem cell collection and other blood treatments to patients with a variety of disorders. HemaCare operates in Southern California and portions of the Eastern U.S. Pete was previously HemaCare’s VP of Sales and Marketing; he became CEO in March 2010. His over 20-year career includes being President and CEO of Comprehensive Imaging Solutions, and senior management positions with Phormax Corp., Comprehensive Medical Imaging, and Syncor International Corp. Referred by Crescent Healthcare's Bob Funari, Pete has joined the Los Angeles Healthcare Executives Round Table.

Axene Highlighted for Stunning "Goliath"
Axene Health Partners, where John Price is a Principal, was recently featured in the Los Angeles Times for its role in uncovering the errors that led Anthem Blue Cross to cancel rate increases of up to 39%. Included in the story: "Axene Health Partners is off the beaten path, but it was well known to senior managers from the California Department of Insurance as a top-flight actuarial firm with a reputation for deft work."

Axolotl & Anakam Collaborate on Authentication
Axolotl Corp., where Ray Scott is CEO, has teamed with Anakam to show how strong user authentication and identity proofing can be implemented successfully within a health information exchange. Powered by Axolotl's Elysium Exchange, the Santa Cruz HIE is implementing Anakam Identity Suite, which eliminates the need to issue physical tokens, cards, or special devices to physicians, patients, and others who need secure access to health information.

Chambers-Chaired Partnership Wins National Award
CalOptima CEO Richard Chambers is also Chair of the Health Funders Partnership of Orange County, which received the 5th annual "Supporting the Safety Net Award" from the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, selected from dozens of nominated healthcare organizations across the U.S. The Partnership is a joint effort of Orange County’s top healthcare providers and health-focused philanthropic organizations working together to improve local care.

CIGNA & CareMeridian Lauded for Customer Service
CIGNA, where Chris De Rosa is Southern California / Nevada President, earned the Silver Award for delivery of an excellent customer experience at the 2010 Gartner & 1to1 Media Customer Relationship Management Excellence Customer Awards. 
     AND CareMeridian, where Jim Ashby is CEO, announced that CareMeridian Las Vegas earned a Customer Service Award from the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.

CNS Response's rEEG Shows Significant Improvement
CNS Response, Inc., where George Carpenter is CEO, announced that physicians using its Referenced-EEG, in a 12-week study, had success rates reaching 65% for patients with treatment-resistant depression. By reducing guesswork, rEEG offers the potential to curtail needless treatment delays and adverse drug reactions from ineffective therapies.

El Camino Opens Los Gatos Rehab Center
El Camino Hospital Los Gatos, where Ken Graham is CEO, has opened a 30-bed inpatient Rehabilitation Center, providing comprehensive intervention for patients affected by neurological disorders such as stroke, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injuries, as well as those with complex orthopedic disorders.

Genentech Sees Promise for Avastin & Ovarian Cancer
Genentech, where Art Small is Head of Oncology Health Outcomes, US Medical Affairs, announced that a second, large, Phase III international study showed that the combination of Avastin (bevacizumab) and chemotherapy, followed by the continued use of Avastin alone, increased the time women with previously untreated ovarian cancer lived without the disease worsening, compared to chemotherapy alone.

Good Sam in U.S. Top 5% for Maternity Care
Good Samaritan Hospital, where Andy Leeka is CEO, has received the 2010/2011 HealthGrades, Inc. Maternity Care Excellence Award and is ranked in the top 5% in the nation for the third year in a row - the only hospital in Los Angeles to make the top 5% this year.

HemaCare Enters Commercial Cell Therapy Collection
HemaCare Corporation, where Pete van der Wal is CEO, announced its first commercial cell therapy collection agreement - to provide cellular collection services in Los Angeles and Maine for Dendreon Corporation's autologous cellular immunotherapy, PROVENGE.

IBM Bolsters Research on Healthcare Quality & Costs
IBM, where Bill Craddock is Client Service Leader West of Global Business Services, is dedicating $100 million to help medical practitioners and insurance companies provide high-quality, evidence-based care to patients. IBM is collaborating with clinicians in medical institutions and hiring MDs to work alongside its researchers to develop new technologies, scientific advancements, and business processes.  Meanwhile, IBM and Peking University People’s Hospital have built an evidence-based care system that offers a point-of-care comprehensive overview of patients’ health data, plus best practices from previous diagnoses, treatment and research.

Idylwood's Gardens Improve Patient Health
Idylwood Care Center, where Franco Diamond is Administrator, was recently highlighted in The Sunnyvale Sun for its Horticultural Therapy Program, where residents garden on the nursing home campus, take cooking classes, and operate a produce stand at the Palo Alto VA Hospital's farmers market. Results for residents have included more exercise, less weight gain, lowered blood sugar, better diabetes control and bowel regularity, plus a goal and motivation to get up everyday. Click here for full article on pages 1 & 16-18.

Keenan's Briefing Answers Lingerin Questions
Keenan, where Steve Richter is Senior VP, has published a new Briefing: Health Care Reform: Webinar Q&A; Mid-Year Elections and Expanded Coverage for Children, which provides answers to questions from its June 17th webinar on dependent changes and mid-year elections rules.

At Kaiser, Patient-Doc Emailing Improves Care
A study by Kaiser Permanente, where Dan Edmonds-Waters and Chris Boyd are senior executives, observed 35,423 patients with diabetes, hypertension, or both, in KP’s Southern California region, finding that use of secure patient-physician messaging in any two-month period was associated with statistically significant improvements in HEDIS (Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set) care measurements.

Med-Vantage Co-Hosts Thought Leadership Event
Med-Vantage, Inc., where Peter Goldbach is CEO, and WorldDoc, a provider of integrated consumer care management systems, recently convened executives and experts from several of the nation’s leading innovative payer organizations to share their experiences with methods to engage members and physicians to improve member health. Read about the results here.

Paul Hastings Among Top 10 on Lawyer's A-List
Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, where Carl Sanchez is a Managing Partner, and Mike McKinnon is a Healthcare Practice Group Leader, is ranked in the top ten on The American Lawyer’s prestigious 2010 A-List, and was praised for its "particularly impressive year-over-year jumps in pro bono and associate satisfaction."

Select Data Answers Top 5 Questions Re: PECOS
Select Data, where Ed Buckley is CEO, has published its answers to the Top 5 Questions Asked Regarding PECOS (Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System). The final interim rule was published in the Federal Register in May, mandating physicians who certify DME and home health services be enrolled in PECOS by July 6, 2010, although many physicians thought they had until January 1, 2011. In addition many thought that being a Medicare provider for years automatically meant they were enrolled in PECOS.

Snaptic's Contest Supports HHS Challenge
Snaptic Inc., where Steve Brown is CEO, has added new prizes - a MacBook Pro and Android phone - to its Move Your App! Developer Challenge, in which developers have until September 15 to submit an Android app that inspires physical activity. The contest supports the Health2.0 Challenge, sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Tethys PreDx Highlighted on SmartPlanet
The PreDx Diabetes Risk Score Test from Tethys Bioscience, where Mike Richey is President, is featured in a CBS Interactive SmartPlanet video segment. SmartPlanet.com presents "thought-provoking, progressive ideas on diverse topics that intersect with technology, business, and life, and matter to the world at large."

VHA Gains Redlands Community as New Member
VHA Inc., where Rick Barnett is West Coast Executive Officer, announced that 205-bed Redlands Community Hospital has joined VHA’s national network and VHA West Coast, which links 90+ hospitals in the western U.S. to leverage their knowledge, purchasing clout and other resources to help one another improve.

Webinars Address Mobile Tech & Meaningful Use
AT&T, where Judi Manis and Marina Younani are Healthcare Market Regional VPs, is presenting Improve Quality Clinical Outcomes of Homecare Through the Use of Mobile Technologies webinar, on July 28 (10-11 am PT), featuring a case study by the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, the largest not-for-profit homecare provider in the U.S.
     Meanwhile, the NextGen Healthcare division of Quality Systems Inc., where Steve Plochocki is CEO, is offering Breaking News: Meaningful Use Final Rule and What You Need to Know webinar, on July 22 (12-1 pm PT), to provide an expert analysis of the final measures and objectives for ambulatory EHRs. Schedule of future NextGen webinars.

UPCOMING ROUND TABLES & EVENTS

8/4 -  Orange County Round Table
8/10 - Silicon Valley Round Table
8/11 - San Francisco Round Table
8/17 - San Diego Round Table
8/20 - Los Angeles Round Table

Final Rules Released on Meaningful Use & Standards
CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) have announced two complementary final rules to implement the electronic health records incentive program under the HITECH Act, which provides financial incentives under Medicare and Medicaid to hospitals and eligible professionals who implement and demonstrate “meaningful use” certified EHR technology. The CMS regulations specify the objectives that providers must achieve in payment years 2011 and 2012 to qualify for incentive payments; the ONC regulations specify the technical capabilities that EHR technology must have to be certified and to support providers in achieving the meaningful use objectives. CMS Fact Sheet on the Final Regulations. (CMS release, 7/13/10)
     Meanwhile, John Halamka, MD, CIO of both Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and of Harvard Medical School, as well as Chair of the US Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel/Co-Chair of the HIT Standards Committee, has assembled two Powerpoint summary presentations available for unrestricted use – one on the Meaningful Use Rule and one on the Standards Final Rule – download here.

New Rules Announced for No-Cost Preventive Services
The Obama administration has unveiled new rules requiring health insurers to provide several kinds of preventive services without cost-sharing by patients. New health plans that begin coverage after Sept. 23 and existing plans that make changes after that date will be required to follow the rules, which the administration said could increase premiums by an average of 1.5%. Insurers will be required to cover cancer screenings, routine vaccinations, prenatal care, wellness visits for infants and children, smoking-cessation and obesity counseling, and testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, without copayments, deductibles or other out-of-pocket charges for patients. (New York Times, 7/14/10)

Berwick Sworn In as CMS Leader
Donald Berwick was sworn in as CMS Administrator on July 12, where he will lead the implementation of many of the new health reform law's broad changes. Berwick was formerly President and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and a Harvard University professor. Since President Obama chose to bypass Congress and use a "recess appointment" to name Berwick to the role, Berwick will have all the powers of a permanent appointee, but serve only until the end of the 111th Congress (late 2011). He then must be re-nominated and confirmed by the Senate. (CQ HealthBeat, 7/12; California Healthline, 7/7/10)

HHS Seeks to Update HIPAA
HHS has proposed modifications to the 1996 HIPAA to incorporate changes Congress included in the 2009 economic stimulus package. The draft rule would allow patients to restrict certain disclosures to health plans and prohibit personal information from being sold without their consent. It would treat billing companies, customer service contractors and other businesses the same as physicians, hospitals and insurers, which would subject them to fines and penalties if they violate privacy regulations. (Modern Healthcare, 7/8/10)

New HealthCare.gov Website a One-Stop Shop
HHS has launched HealthCare.gov, a website intended for individuals researching their insurance options and a central location for news and information about the new health reform law. HealthCare.gov is the first central database of coverage options, combining data about public programs with information from 5,000+ private insurance plans. The website will also connect individuals to quality rankings for local healthcare providers, as well as preventive services. Website visitors can answer a few questions about their age, health status, ZIP code, job status and family size, and will then be given a list of private plans that are accepting new members in their area. In October, price estimates for health insurance plans will be available. HHS said it soon will post new information on preventing disease and illness and improving the quality of healthcare for individuals. (AIS's Health Reform Week, 7/12/10)

Rhode Island Undercuts Health Plans’ Rate Requests
On July 7, Rhode Island Insurance Commissioner Christopher Koller approved 2011 insurance rates that were between 1.4 and 3.6 percentage points below what was requested by the state’s three commercial plans: Blue Cross/Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare and Tufts Health Plan. Beginning next year insurers will have to meet six conditions outlined by the commission when negotiating provider contracts. Among them, insurers must “require efficiency-based units of payment for services; set an annual maximum price increase for services; [and] require contracts to have” quality incentives, administrative efficiency standards and provider communications standards, and make these measures publicly available. (Health Plan Week, 7/12/10)

Meanwhile, Cali’s Poizner Publishes Rate Filings
California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner made the rate filings of Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, and Blue Shield of California publicly available. According to the department’s website, Aetna proposed a 19% rate hike affecting its 65,000 individual members; Anthem requested an average 14% hike for its 700,000 policyholders; and Blue Shield an average hike of 18% for its 240,000 policyholders. In June, the department ordered independent reviews of proposed premium rate hikes submitted by four of the state’s largest insurers in the individual market, after an analysis by Axene Health Partners found “significant errors” with Anthem’s earlier rate filing, which requested increases of up to 39% for some policyholders. (Health Plan Week, 7/12/10)