• 11/07 - Orange County Round Table
• 11/08 - East Bay / Bay Area Round Table
• 11/13 - Silicon Valley Round Table
• 11/14 - San Francisco / Bay Area Round Table
• 11/15 - Sacramento Round Table
• 11/16 - Los Angeles Round Table

• Voters in Multiple States to Decide on Medicaid Expansion
• What's the Difference Between Medicare-For-All and Single-Payer?
• State Wants to Peg Rates to What Medicare Pays, but Hospitals Worry About Ripple Effects
• Telehealth from Home to Be Added to Medicare Advantage Plan's Benefits Under New Rule
• Meanwhile, Four People Indicted for $931 Million Telemedicine Fraud Scheme
• Suit Against Sutter Spawns Fight with Bay Area Hospitals Over Trade Secrets
• California's Medi-Cal Program Paid $4B to Recipients Who May Have Been Ineligible, Audit Shows
• Hackers Breach Healthcare.gov System, Taking Files on 75,000 People

IN PHARMA NEWS:
• HHS Wants List Prices of Drugs Costing $35+ a Month Displayed in TV Ads
• Meanwhile, Trump Offers Test Plan to Lower Medicare Drug Costs
• HHS Set to Implement Long-Delayed 340B Final Rule in January
• Drug Co's & Law Enforcement Struggle to Stop Online Sales of Fake Meds That Can Kill
• FDA Clears First Consumer Genetic Test for How Well Your Meds May Work

• Sunrise Senior Living Offers Medicare Advantage Health Plan
• To Fight High Prices, Utah Will Pay for Public Employees to Go Fill Rx's in Mexico
• Epic Introduces App Orchard Low-Cost Option & Cuts Prices
• Given Food as Medicine, Hospitals are Focusing on Nutrition
• 5 Apps & Services for Productivity & Wellness
• Dignity-CHI Merger Cleared by Vatican

GAINING TRACTION: THE RETAILIZATION OF HEALTHCARE:
• Amazon Exclusively Selling Connected Medical Device Brand for Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease
• MEANWHILE: "If CVS Bets Big on Urgent Care, Hospitals Should Worry"
• AND: Walmart Considers Adding Health Clinics in Its Parking Lots

Ten of healthcare's most innovative companies have been selected as Finalists to present their health IT, digital health, diagnostic, and med device solutions, as well as innovative approaches for reducing the cost of quality care at ABL Organization's 19th and 20th Innovations in Healthcare^TM ABBY Awards Dual Events, to be held on December 5, 2018, in Long Beach, and December 12, 2018, in San Francisco. The ABBY Awards events, which will be presented for the 19th time in Greater LA and for the 20th time in the Bay Area, will be hosted by the Adaptive Business Leaders (ABL) Organization. ABL's first Awards event was held in 1999, and since then has recognized over 60 innovative organizations whose approaches and technologies are making dramatic inroads in the quest to improve the quality of care and health outcomes - while reducing its cost. For the first time, this year literally half of the Finalists' offerings blend "technologies with human providers, caregivers, or coaches" to achieve their quality-improving/ cost-saving results.

AND THE FINALISTS ARE: For the Southern California Event: Advanced Pathways; Amenity Health, Inc.; Catasys, Inc.; healthPiper, LLC; and ImpediMed, Inc. For the Northern California Event: Atlas Lift Tech; Care3, Inc.; Help-Full; Modio Health, Inc.; and NEOFECT. Click Here to Learn More About the Finalists.

In preparation for this year's Dual Events, ABL's Finalist Selection Committee - a group of Healthcare Executives with deep domain knowledge in the areas represented by this year's Semi-Finalists - spent a recent morning presenting and discussing some 30 ABBY Award-nominated Semi-Finalists to the Group. Following discussions about each nominated organization, the Committee voted by secret ballot to select the ten Finalists. At both the December 5th and 12th dual ABBY Awards events, following live presentations made by the leaders of the Finalist companies, each audience member will cast their secret ballots to determine one ABBY Awardee in Southern California and one ABBY Awardee in Northern California; both winners will take home coveted ABBY Awards. Further information about the Innovations in Healthcare^TM ABBY Awards event/s is available by emailing [email protected].

Agilist has been named a Finalist in the HHS/AHRQ Step Up App Challenge: Advancing Care Through Patient Assessments, in which the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has chosen teams to design, develop, and pilot a user-friendly application that simplifies the process of collecting, interpreting, aggregating, and sharing patient-reported outcomes (PRO) data related to physical function outcomes in the ambulatory care setting. PROs are defined as "any report of the status of a patient's health condition that comes directly from the patient, without interpretation of the patient's response by a clinician or anyone else." The competition has three phases that proceed from the development of a business proposal, to development of the app, and finally, to testing the winning app in nine practice settings affiliated with MedStar Health in Washington, DC. Cash prizes will be awarded at each phase with the grand prize winner receiving as much as $87,000. AHRQ received 50+ applications, from which 10 finalists, including Agilist, were selected to move on to phase 2. (Joyce Tang, Orange County)

Fox 11 Los Angeles/ Good Day L.A. news program recently featured Alinea Medical Imaging's collaboration with radiologist Dr. Lisa Curcio of Breastlink, in a television segment that highlighted Alinea's mobile mammography bus. Meanwhile, for several days in October - which was Breast Cancer Awareness month - Alinea partnered with fashion designer/ businesswoman Tamara Mellon to provide free mammograms in multiple locations around L.A. (Monish Laxpati, Orange County)

On November 15, Alvaka Networks and the Department of Homeland Security will present Connect, Plan, Train, & Report: National Strategy to Protecting our Nation's Infrastructure, at Alvaka's Irvine headquarters, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The event will cover the current physical and digital threats to businesses and critical infrastructure, growing challenges of defense, and ways that we can all make our communities safer. Meanwhile, Alvaka has published To patch or not to patch? And what is patching anyway? (Oli Thordarson, Orange County)

Anka Behavioral Health recently received an award from the Tuscola Community Foundation, Janks Fund, to support the purchase of new beds for the veterans in Anka's transitional housing program in Akron, MI. Meanwhile, on November 9, in Concord, CA, Anka will present a service to memorialize the homeless men and women who have lost their lives over the last year in Contra Costa County: More information. (Naja Boyd, Bay Area)

Harry Soza, CEO of CAREMINDr, co-wrote an article for Medical Economics - Increase revenue, improve patient care with mobile-enabled remote patient monitoring - which discusses how medical practices that are looking for ways to make Medicare's Chronic Care Management program more efficient and less costly, are utilizing mobile-enabled remote patient monitoring. The technology can greatly enhance communication between providers and patients; patients become more aware and engaged in their own care; it enables consistent monitoring between face-to-face appointments; and it has advantages compared to phone-based monitoring. In addition, CMS recently unbundled another level of remote patient monitoring, using a different CPT code, allowing providers to bill separately for these broader services. (Harry Soza, Silicon Valley)

Carl Zeiss Meditec (ZEISS) has received FDA Premarket Approval for ReLEx SMILE, expanding myopia treatment to patients with astigmatism. The approval also provides for a small entry incision to be made, allowing the SMILE procedure to be potentially less disruptive to corneal surface tissue. To date, there are 1700+ surgeons using SMILE in over 70 countries, and the technology behind SMILE was recently featured in the Scientific Background on the Nobel Prize in Physics 2018. (Angelo Rago, Bay Area)

Landmark Health and Ceresti Health are expanding Ceresti's coaching, education, and support pilot program to additional markets where Landmark Health currently operates. Ceresti's solution leverages its proven digital platform, remote coaches, evidence-based content, and a proprietary personalization engine to help family caregivers understand their loved one's health challenges and develop the know-how required to take a more active role in managing their loved one's health. Meanwhile, Ceresti announced a capital investment by Stella Development, a division of the same parent company (Stella) as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. (Dirk Soenksen, Orange County)

The County of Santa Clara recently concluded its 14th Annual Binational Health Week, which occurs every year in October, bringing together community, government agencies, and thousands of volunteers to host a series of health education and health promotion events. It's one of the largest mobilization efforts in the Americas to improve the health and well-being of immigrants from Latin America living in the U.S. and Canada. The Santa Clara County Public Health Department partners with the Consulate of Mexico in San Jose, hospitals, clinics, community-based organizations, and volunteers, collaborating to coordinate and host this event. (Tyler Haskell, Silicon Valley)

Recently, 59 preschoolers in tiny purple graduation gowns and mortarboards reached a milestone on their educational path at Felton Institute's Cradle to College Preschool Graduation. This is the second year that the Children, Youth and Family Division has held the jubilant ceremony at San Francisco State University. Felton CEO Al Gilbert thanked the parents for allowing Felton to play a role in each child's success story, adding, "We've created a lot of innovative programs and services specifically with the intention of making your family stronger, increasing your resources, and supporting the achievements of your young people." (Al Gilbert, Bay Area)

GeBBS Healthcare Solutions announced that Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, of New York, and Lee Health, of southwest Florida, have selected their iCode Assurance SaaS solution to help enhance revenue integrity, compliance, and productivity. Meanwhile, GeBBS is making available their professional fee evaluation/management (E/M) leveling calculator tool - offered to the HIM community in appreciation for their service to the healthcare industry. (Nitin Thakor, Los Angeles)

In Bundled Payment Report Issued, Dave Sayen of Gorman Health Group (GHG) reports that bundling payments is one of the few value-based approaches that CMS and the Innovation Center have fielded that works, but not yet for taxpayers. The newer advanced Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative, which is getting started now, will put providers at risk, and sophisticated providers are ready to play in this new space, Dave shares. This is where health reform is happening, he says, in initiatives that align providers' incentives with the goals of public programs. Meanwhile, following CMS's recent publication of its annual Readiness Checklist, which provides an overview of key operational requirements for the coming plan year, GHG has summarized important things to consider as the 2019 plan year approaches. (Dave Sayen, Bay Area)

Health Coach Institute will present HCI Live in Austin, TX, November 9-11, an event which will provide health coach training, education, and more. Meanwhile, recent blog posts from HCI include Why Life Coach Training Isn't Just for Coaches and How to Become an Online Health Coach. (Eric Neuner, Bay Area)

CMS has awarded Kaiser Permanente (KP)'s Medicare health plans in California, Hawaii, and the Mid-Atlantic States its highest rating: 5 out of 5 stars. And KP Medicare plans in the Northwest, Colorado, Georgia, and Washington earned 4.5 out of 5 stars, CMS' second-highest rating. Also, for the eighth consecutive year, the National Business Group on Health honored KP with Platinum for having one of the best workforce health and well-being programs in the nation, with demonstrated results. (Walt Meyers, Bay Area)

Kindred Healthcare and Mercy Iowa City have created a joint venture to construct and operate a 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Coralville, IA, and received approval from the Iowa State Health Facilities Council. Kindred will manage day-to-day operations of the new hospital, expected to open by the second quarter of 2020. It will care for adults recovering from conditions such as stroke, neurological disease, injury to the brain or spinal cord, and other long-term illnesses or injuries. (Adam Darvish, Los Angeles)

In its recent issue of Health Headlines, King & Spalding (K&S) provides updates on: CMS Releases the following: > Final 2019 Outpatient Prospective Payment System Rulemaking, Finalizing Site Neutral Payment Policy for Off-Campus Provider-Based Departments; > Final Rule for Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program; > Home Health Prospective Payment System Final Rule; and > Contract Year 2020 Medicare Advantage and Part D Flexibility Proposed Rule. It also covers: > HHS Proposes to Halt Further Delays of 340B Oversight and Enforcement Rules; and > District Court Orders HHS to Clear Medicare Appeals Backlog By 2022.

Meanwhile, a recent American Lawyer article profiles the growth and momentum of K&S, while Benchmark has again awarded the firm top individual and practice area rankings in its guide to the top law firms for litigation, including achieving national Tier 1 for General Commercial Litigation, International Arbitration, Product Liability, and White-Collar Crime. Also, Los Angeles healthcare partner Travis Jackson will be a featured speaker at the American Health Lawyers Association's Fundamentals of Health Law Conference on Nov. 12 in Chicago. And, on November 13, K&S will hold its Annual Pharmaceutical University, in Philadelphia. (Marcia Augsburger, Sacramento, & Travis Jackson)

In Building Value for All Healthcare Facility Experts, Globally, Mazzetti CEO Walt Vernon discusses his recent presentation to the International Federation of Hospital Engineering (IFHE), where he represented the Health Care Institute and the U.S. Walt shares that IFHE will be focusing on the following areas in 2019: > Develop extensive award programs available to all healthcare organizations, so that each has opportunities for international recognition for their work. > Develop online peer-to-peer communications, similar to a list serve, to create a global community of resources. > Develop an expertise bank, to identify people with particular expertise. (Walt Vernon, Bay Area)

This fall, Mission Hospice received final licensing for its new Woodside hospice house in Redwood City, and has since welcomed the first patients to this beautiful six-bed home, providing intensive, round-the-clock care for those whose end-of-life needs cannot be managed in their own homes. While hospice houses are common in other parts of the country, the Bay Area has only a handful, due to the high cost of land in the area. (Dwight Wilson, Bay Area)

Nelson Hardiman (NH)'s managing partner, Harry Nelson, was interviewed by The Paper Grown, Zocdoc's healthcare newsletter, where he provides his expert analysis on frequently asked questions regarding open enrollment for the coming year and concerns behind the repeal of the individual mandate. Also, NH has published SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, regarding the comprehensive bill designed to address the current opioid crisis; and California Enacts New Hospital Discharge Process Requirements for Homeless Patients. Meanwhile, NH is offering office-space subleases within its new Westwood office building: More information. (Harry Nelson, Los Angeles)

The number of home hemodialysis (HHD) patients using NxStage Medical's Nx2me Connected Health platform has increased 220% in the past year. Nx2me is designed to enhance the connection between NxStage System One HHD patients and clinicians, and has been shown to improve patient retention and training graduation rates. Meanwhile, NxStage announced a new study highlighting significant improvements in first-year survival for incident patients across all age ranges, performing more frequent home hemodialysis with System One, and new findings demonstrating significant survival benefit and lower cardiovascular hospitalization with more frequent home hemodialysis using System One within the skilled nursing facility setting. (Bob Funari, Orange County)

Royal Ambulance has been named to Modern Healthcare's "2018 Best Places to Work," ranked at #38. Each year, this program singles out and recognizes outstanding employers in the healthcare industry on a national level. (Steve Grau, Silicon Valley)

In Everything You Need to Know About HIPAA Compliance, SAVI Group provides a comprehensive list of all the HIPPA identifiers. And, in The Future of Medical Billing - Trends & Integrations, SAVI explores some of the latest innovations and trends, including blockchain technology, computer-assisted coding, and aligning electronic health records. Also, in Common Medical Billing Mistakes to Avoid, SAVI discusses unbundling codes, upcoding, billing multiple times for the same service, and mistakes in patient information. (Sumit Mahendru, Orange County)

Shriners Hospitals for Children - Northern California recently hosted the inaugural PediOrtho WEST (Western Education & Surgical Techniques) Resident Education Course, which brought together young doctors from throughout the West to introduce them to the field of pediatric orthopaedics. The leading pediatric surgeons in the state formed the faculty for this first-ever event. In addition to comprehensive lectures and presentations of specific topics, participants were exposed to hands-on, individualized surgical simulations skills labs at the Northern California Shriners Hospital. (Maggie Bryan, Sacramento)

Tulare Regional Medical Center reopened to patients on October 15, after being shuttered for nearly a year due to the hospital declaring bankruptcy in October 2017. Recently, the Tulare Local Healthcare District and Adventist Health agreed to lease terms whereby Adventist will pay the Healthcare District $2.335 million each year to lease the hospital building. Adventist also agreed to give the district a $10 million loan to pay off debts needed to reopen the hospital. Adventist has also spent $200,000 over the last few weeks to renovate the hospital. The agreement has a maximum length of 30 years, with five-year renewals. (Larry Blitz, Silicon Valley)

VivaLNK has teamed with Reckitt Benckiser (RB) to market and distribute VivaLNK's wearable continuous temperature monitor worldwide. RB, the company behind brands such as Enfamil and Nurofen, will carry the product under the names Enfasmart FeverSense and Nurofen FeverSmart. Both products are available now to parents who wish to automatically track temperature changes in their child and take immediate action upon detecting a fever. FeverSense and FeverSmart continuously monitor changes in body temperature over a multi-day period. The small, comfortable patch is rechargeable and can be worn seven days straight on a single charge. (Jiang Li, Silicon Valley)

WIPFLi has joined the NormShield partner program to expand its current cybersecurity solutions with state-of-the-art, on-demand, and standards-based cyber risk scorecards. The enhanced portfolio will provide Wipfli with a powerful tool to improve and reduce the risk associated with its clients' supply-chain partners, third-party vendor networks, and sensitive data. Meanwhile, WIPFLi has published Why You Should Measure Employee Engagement - and How to Use the Results. (Rich Gianello & Jeff Johnson, Bay Area; Tony Taddey, Los Angeles; Larry Blitz, Silicon Valley)

Catasys, an AI and technology-enabled healthcare company, has expanded its OnTrak-A solution into Florida and Georgia with one of the nation's leading health plans. Eligible members in these states are now able to participate in the integrated 52-week program that identifies, engages, and treats members with unaddressed behavioral health conditions that impact co-morbid medical conditions. (Rick Anderson, West Los Angeles Technology)

IRIS Solutions and MBS Secure, two companies which provide IT solutions, have both recently partnered with PCIHIPAA to focus on protecting their clients from the onslaught of HIPAA violations which include ransomware attacks and data breaches impacting medical and dental practices throughout the U.S. (Jeff Broudy, West Los Angeles Technology)