5 Finalists Selected for 19^th Innovations in Healthcare^TM ABBY Award;
Winner to Be Chosen on December 5, 2018, in Long Beach, CA

November 14, 2018:  Five of healthcare's most innovative companies have been selected as Finalists to present their approaches, medical devices, health IT, digital health, and diagnostic solutions at ABL Organization's 19^th Innovations in Healthcare^TM ABBY Awards Event, to be held on December 5, 2018, in Long Beach, California. The event will be hosted by the Adaptive Business Leaders (ABL) Organization, whose 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. And this year, more than any other before, many of these innovations are blending technology with the human touch provided by providers, caregivers, and even family members and friends.

At the December 5th event, following live presentations made by the leaders of each Finalist company, each audience member will cast their secret ballot to determine one Awardee, who will take home the coveted ABBY Award.

The 19th Innovations in Healthcare^TM ABBY Award Finalists, in alphabetical order, are:

 
ADVANCED PATHWAYS
Traci Patterson, Founder and Executive Director 
Advanced Pathways' Hypnosis Combined Therapy (HCT) provides solutions for chronic pain patients (CRPS, Fibromyalgia, SFN, Migraines, etc.) through a personalized, evidence-based, non-invasive, drug-free treatment option that allows patients to regain their lives. HCT gets the patient out of 'fight/flight', resetting the pain loop, balancing the autonomic nervous system, reducing/controlling stress and anxiety, increasing restorative sleep, and helping with PTSD. Their 5-day protocol is not only changing patients' lives, but is also dramatically decreasing the overall burden on the U.S. healthcare system.

 
CATASYS INC.’S ONTRAK PROGRAM
Rick Anderson, President & COO
Through predictive analytics, Catasys identifies, engages, and treats behavioral care-avoidant people who are suffering from untreated behavioral health conditions that are exacerbating chronic medical disease. By applying advanced tools and proprietary insights, during its 52-week program, Catasys care coaches motivate behavior change, resulting in better health, improved resiliency, and reduced costs: total claims paid, a reduction in ED and inpatient utilization, as well as a reduction in professional costs, such as doctor fees. OnTrak's retention is 80%: four times the average behavioral health treatment retention.

 
HEALTHPIPER, LLC
Joshua Freedman, MD, CEO & Founder
Among the millions of Americans identified as depressed by their primary care doctor, almost two-thirds don’t get treatment. As a psychiatrist, Dr. Freedman recognized the challenges his patients faced, particularly those suffering from anxiety and depression, to travel across town to meet with their doctor. healthPiper: a mobile medication-based treatment program for patients with depression and anxiety, that uses a cost-effective "concierge style" that harnesses mobile technology, coupling it with innovative approaches for delivering meds and staying patient-connected, all at less than half the typical cost of care.

 
IMPEDIMED’S SOZO® DIGITAL HEALTH PLATFORM
Richard Carreon, Managing Director & CEO
The post-surgical complication of lymphedema (in which fluid builds up in the extremities due to damage of the lymph system) is so significant that it is taken for granted. SOZO® provides a critical tool for the early detection, monitoring, and management of conditions like lymphedema. When used immediately upon cancer diagnosis, SOZO enables the monitoring of subtle changes in breast cancer patients - detecting lymphedema as much as 4-10 months earlier than other methods, allowing for early intervention and prevention of disease progression, decreasing the development of persistent, possibly irreversible, lymphedema in breast cancer patients by as much as 95%.

 
MEDCLINE BY AMENITY HEALTH, INC.
Aaron Clark, Co-Founder & CEO
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) affects 20% of the adult US population. For under $300, the MedCline Reflux Relief System is more effective than medications at reducing nighttime GERD symptoms, more effective than surgery at reducing Silent Reflux symptoms, and it provides physicians and patients with a powerful and effective alternative to Proton Pump Inhibitor medications and surgery. It has been clinically studied with patients with typical reflux symptoms - as well as laryngopharyngeal reflux, pregnancy reflux, post-esophagectomy, and lung transplant patients with reflux - with consistent positive results.

 

 ALSO AT THE EVENT, the keynote presentation will be made by Robert Maloney, MD, Director of Maloney Vision Institute, and Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Maloney has worked at the forefront of innovative vision-correction surgery for 20 years - personally performing 60,000+ vision correction procedures - including on Kim Kardashian. He's also a brilliant medical edu-tainer and will share with attendees the inspiring backstory of one of the greatest Innovations in Healthcare of all time, and how it's played out in history and art, as well as in today's routine medical practice.