Congratulations to ABL's 2008 Innovations in Healthcare^SM ABBY Award Winners Awards Honor Steve Case and Innovative Contributors to Value-Driven Healthcare

Orange, CA — April 24, 2008 — Congratulations to “Leadership in Innovation" Awardee Steve Case, Chairman and CEO of Revolution LLC, and the ABBY winners at ABL’s 10th Annual Innovations in Healthcare^SM Awards, who were announced on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Awards Event drew over 150 top executives from healthcare providers, IT, med tech, wellness, biotech, and professional services, as well as federal and county government.  And the winners are: Alameda County Medical Center; M*Modal, Inc.; and Accuray, Inc.

The event was “Prenoted" by David Sayen, CMS Region IX Administrator, who shared the recent innovations that can now be readily accessed at Medicare.gov, where the country’s Medicare 43 million beneficiaries can identify the Medicare Advantage Health and Prescription Drug plans serving them – by zip code, as well as, through HospitalComare.hhs.gov, check on how well the hospitals near them care for their adult patients by condition or procedure.

“This was not only our 10th Annual Innovations in Healthcare^SM Awards Event, but by all accounts it was our biggest and best," said Mimi Grant, President of the ABL Organization, which hosted the event and is celebrating its 25th anniversary year. “Over the past ten years, what started as a small, regional “contest" has become a prestigious, national Awards Event, where the winners are selected by their peers in the audience. Our objective in all of this is to elevate and congratulate the intrepid entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs who are bringing to market innovative ways to reduce the cost of quality, accessible healthcare. This year’s ABBY winners range from an inner-city public hospital, to the world’s only robotic radiosurgery system, to a software service that captures clinical information from dictation and transforms it directly into retrievable and shareable electronic files. And our “Leadership in Innovation" Awardee, Steve Case, pointed out what he believes are the similarities in breaking through technical, governmental, and vested interests in creating a consumer-accessible Internet – AOL - and creating a consumer-centric “Revolution" in healthcare."

Case's keynote was followed by the eight Finalists in the healthcare delivery, healthcare IT, and medtech categories, who made presentations to the audience of healthcare CEOs and senior executives. The audience then voted for an ABBY Award winner in each category.

In the "Innovative Approaches to the Delivery of Healthcare" category, Oakland, CA-based Alameda County Medical Center, where Wright Lassiter III is CEO, was awarded for its Rapid Entry and Accelerated Care at Triage (REACT) program, which has increased capacity, efficiency, and throughput in the emergency department. It is a multi-step process developed on the concept of “the right patient receiving the right care at the right time."

In the "Innovations in Healthcare Information Technology" category, Pittsburgh, PA-based M*Modal, Inc., where Michael Finke is CEO, was honored for its hosted conversational documentation services that help healthcare providers capture clinical information from dictation and transform it directly into accessible, retrievable, and shareable e-files. M*Modal serves hospitals, clinics, and medical transcription companies, with a transaction volume of more than 100 million dictation minutes a year.

In the "Innovations in Medical/Diagnostics Technology" category, Sunnyvale, CA-based Accuray, Inc., where Euan Thomson, Ph.D. is CEO, was recognized for its CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System, the world's only robotic radiosurgery system designed to treat tumors anywhere in the body non-invasively and with sub-millimeter accuracy, resulting in improved quality of life and a non-surgical treatment option for those diagnosed with cancer.

ABL is now accepting nominees for the 2009 Innovations in Healthcare^SM ABBY Awards.

About the Adaptive Business Leaders (ABL) Organization
ABL, California’s leading Chief Executives’ Organization, provides its Members with executive leadership coaching through its confidential peer CEO Advisory Board Round Tables and executive learning workshops, network of CEO peers and expert resources. ABL supports the needs of its Member CEOs by providing a place for top-level executives to draw on the experience, knowledge and skill sets of their peers in a non-competing vertical industry personal advisory board - multi-coach approach - setting.

The core component of the CEO Membership experience is the group Round Table meeting. Members meet once a month for a half day with a group of peer CEOs, Presidents, COOs and Division General Managers from non-competing companies all from the same industry (healthcare, technology or life sciences) in a trusted and confidential board room like setting, which allows the executive Members to tackle topics and enhance their decision making and business performance. Topics include: developing and honing new business strategies, new lines of business, best business practices, understanding new trends, developing an effective board of directors, leadership training and executive compensation.

Members also gather several times a year at workshops and conferences to exchange ideas and connect with other chief executives beyond their own CEO peer groups. In effect, ABL Members serve as each other’s business coaches within the Round Tables and are encouraged to connect and leverage their co-Member peers’ particular skills and expertise for additional leadership coaching, one-on-one, outside of their monthly group meeting. In addition, each Round Table’s Facilitator also serves as an objective business advisor, offering executive and industry insights and advice.

ABL's Chief Executive Leadership Development Round Table program is currently being offered in California's greater Orange County, Los Angeles and San Francisco County areas.