• 3/06 - Orange County Round Table
• 3/12 - Silicon Valley Round Table
• 3/13 - San Francisco Round Table
• 3/14 - East Bay Round Table
• 3/15 - Los Angeles Round Table

• U.S. House Democrats Introduce Sweeping 'Medicare for All' Bill
• California Counties Experiment with Linking Healthcare & Social Services for Most Vulnerable
• HHS Launches Innovative Payment Model with New Treatment & Transport Options
• Growth in National Health Spending Over Next Decade Expected to Average 5.5%
• New Rules Could Ease Patients' Access to Their Own Health Records
• FDA Plans Multifaceted Response to Opioid-Abuse Epidemic
• SF Gets $3M State Grant for Mental Health, Drug Abuse Services for Homeless
• Patients Face Months-Long Waits to See Specialists at New York City Hospitals
• New Data Added to CMS Hospital Compare Website

• Hospital Price Growth Driving Healthcare Spending
• Why Payers are Gobbling Up PBMs
• Sugary Drink Consumption Down by Half in Berkeley Since Soda Tax Implemented - Study
• UnitedHealth Loses Case to Amazon-Berkshire-Chase Health Venture
• Healthcare by 2028 Will Be Powered by Visual Technologies
• U.S. Hospital Owner Columbia Pacific Starts Sale of Asia Business
• Eric Topol Makes the Case for How AI Can Improve Healthcare
• Badly Designed Electronic Records Can Be Hazardous to Your Health
• FDA Panel Assesses Risks of Women's Surgical Mesh

In Ransomware v2.0 Recovery - Now, encrypted or deleted backups!, Alvaka Networks warns of a "new, even more malicious era for ransomware that's hitting mid-market companies particularly hard." This new phase is characterized by significantly larger ransom demands, along with well-planned attacks that can also encrypt backup drives. Alvaka shares some of their own recent experiences in working with victims. (Oli Thordarson, Orange County)

Bayer, an international life science company, Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, and RWTH Aachen University are working together - using the Atos Quantum Learning Machine, the world's highest-performing quantum simulator, to research the evolution of multi-morbidity human diseases from large data repositories. The project is based on anonymized real-world data of intensive care patients, to analyze and identify correlations between comorbidities and relevant patterns of disease evolution. This concept complements the approach of clinical trial studies that usually focuses on a limited number of patients and well-structured data to analyze disease criteria. (Dirk Schapeler, Silicon Valley)

In the article, Patient engagement: An unexpected benefit of mobile-enabled remote patient monitoring, recently published in Becker's Health IT & CIO Report, Harry Soza, CEO of CAREMINDr, reports that new remote patient monitoring (RPM) codes added to the Medicare fee schedule for 2019 finally attach a definitive payment for general physiological remote monitoring of chronic conditions. This new, long-overdue reimbursement, and the fact that services from clinical staff - and not just physicians - can now be reimbursed, means providers and health plans will undoubtedly launch new RPM programs in the coming year. And as they do, they will likely notice an unexpected but powerful benefit: improved patient engagement. (Harry Soza Silicon Valley)

The Center for Elders' Independence (CEI) will celebrate the grand re-opening of its Guardian Adult Day Health Center, on the afternoon of March 7, in El Sobrante. Come enjoy refreshments, meet staff, tour the new activities lounge, dining area, rehabilitation gym, updated courtyard, and learn about CEI's Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly, which offers fully coordinated 24-hour medical, dental, podiatry, and home care services in addition to the day center. (Linda Trowbridge, Bay Area)

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors recently honored Choice in Aging for its 70 years of service to the community, presenting CEO Debbie Toth with a resolution. (Debbie Toth, Bay Area)

Covisus, a ChromoLogic company, was selected from startup companies across the U.S. to participate in the recent Ski Lift Pitch event, held in Taos, New Mexico. To be considered, companies must exhibit "early customer validation and traction for a disruptive value proposition; high-growth potential and scalability; and an appetite for building relationships with venture and angel investors." Covisus was identified as developing "technology to forge secure, transparent supply chains, helping companies ensure the integrity of their products." (Naresh Menon, Los Angeles)

Cigna announced that it has exceeded its value-based care goal of having 50% of U.S. Medicare and commercial healthcare provider payments through alternative payment arrangements in the company's top 40 markets by year-end 2018. Cigna established the goal in 2015 to accelerate the transition to alternative payment models that link healthcare provider payments to both quality and affordability. The move has helped the company shift 50.5% of provider payments to alternative payment arrangements, and improve the quality of healthcare for customers, resulting in medical cost savings of $600+ million from 2013-2017. In addition, it has contributed to Cigna maintaining the industry's lowest medical cost trend for six consecutive years. (Chris De Rosa, Orange County)

After repeated attempts by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to block the deal, at midnight on February 28 Santa Clara County became the owner of O'Connor and St. Louise Hospitals and DePaul Urgent Care Center, as the $235 million purchase closed. The County bought the facilities from bankrupt Verity Health Systems, declaring them essential to the lives of residents who would have been left without nearby emergency care. (Tyler Haskell, Silicon Valley)

El Camino Hospital Foundation recently received a $5 million donation from John and Susan Sobrato - one of the largest single commitments ever made to the Foundation. The gift will secure naming rights for the hospital's new integrated medical office building, to be called the Sobrato Pavilion, a seven-story, 265,000-square-foot building currently under construction and expected to open in the fall of 2019. (Michelle McGowan & Cecile Currier, Silicon Valley)

On March 20, in Emeryville, ElderConsult Geriatric Medicine will hold its Living In the Moment - Dementia Conference 2019; Dementia Challenges: The Journey, Pain and Family Dynamics, a conference for families and elder care professionals. Among the presentations, Elizabeth Landsverk MD will discuss the challenges of behaviors in dementia and the steps to take to determine the cause and relieve the suffering of the person with dementia - without Ativan, sleeping pills - and work to keep them as engaged and independent as possible. Also, on March 28, in Burlingame, Elizabeth will speak about Elder Financial Abuse at the Senior Round Table event, for elder care professionals and anyone interested in the topic. Meanwhile, ElderConsult announced upcoming workshops at The Connected Horse Program for those with early dementia and their care partners. (Elizabeth Landsverk MD, Bay Area)

Eric Neuner, CEO of Health Coach Institute (HCI), made a speech at HCI Live (watch video here), in which he shared the trauma from his childhood that created defenses that closed his heart and built walls around him. He talks about what enabled him to discover the light in the darkness inside him. Meanwhile, registration is now open for HCI Live Spring 2019, in Phoenix, AZ, on April 25-27. This event for coaches and health practitioners combines learning, connection, personal transformation, hands-on skill-building, and fun. (Eric Neuner, Bay Area)

On the evening of April 27, Hospice East Bay will present its Sparkles & Spurs: Celebration of Care for 2019, an opportunity to honor patients and their loved ones, while celebrating those who contribute their time, energy and financial resources. The western-themed event will feature cocktails, wine, dinner, silent and live auctions, and entertainment at the Round Hill Country Club in Alamo. (Cindy Hatton, Bay Area)

Inglewood Imaging Center (IIC) encourages everyone to take part in the Susan G. Komen 5K Walk on Saturday, March 9, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Brad Schmidt, CEO of IIC, who has served on the Komen Board for several years, reports that the event is tremendously helpful for families impacted by breast cancer, and it's also a lot of fun. The 5K supports physical fitness, community involvement, purpose and emotional support, and proceeds go to research and local patient support. Brad encourages ABL participants to meet at the "mitt" after the race. (Brad Schmidt, Los Angeles)

Aging 2.0 has announced the Caregiving Collective, an initiative to build a data-driven insight, solutions and matchmaking platform that connects innovators in aging with providers looking for next-generation and cost-effective solutions. Founding charter partners of the initiative include Irvine Health Foundation, P&G Ventures, SOMPO Digital Lab, Genworth, and the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation, powered by Baycrest. More information. (Ed Kacic, Orange County)

Kaiser Permanente (KP) School of Medicine, in Pasadena, announced that it will waive tuition for all four years for the school's first five classes of students. The private, nonprofit medical school, which is not affiliated with any university, has received initial accreditation and will begin accepting applications from prospective students in June 2019 for admission to the school's first class in the summer of 2020. The inaugural class will have 48 students. Meanwhile, KP was recognized by Fortune as one of the Best Big Companies to Work For in 2019, and named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for 2019 by the Ethisphere Institute. (Walt Meyers, Bay Area)

King & Spalding's 28th Annual Health Law & Policy Forum will take place March 18, in Atlanta. Meanwhile, the firm's recent issue of Health Headlines includes these articles: > Senator Grassley Renews Probe into Non-Profit, Tax Exempt Hospitals; > CMS Seeks Public Comments on Proposed Changes to Hospital Quality Star Ratings; > Vanguard Healthcare Agrees to Pay More Than $18 million to Resolve FCA Lawsuit; and > Plaintiffs Seek Leave to File Amended Complaint in Case Against Anthem for Paying Patients Directly for Rehabilitation Services. (Marcia Augsburger, Bay Area, & Travis Jackson)

Take a look at this video tour of the new Wellfound Behavioral Health Hospital in Tacoma, WA, which KMD Architects helped design and build. Wellfound will begin receiving patients this this month. Meanwhile, KMD is also participating in the updates to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, which recently celebrated its new Virgil Street Parking Garage, and announced that its new bed tower is on schedule to be completed in Fall 2020. (Rob Matthew, Bay Area)

Mazzetti, along with the Facility Guidelines Institute, American College of Emergency Physicians, and DC Design, recently convened 100+ clinicians, design professionals, and students to "reimagine the ED," to help shape the emergency department of the future. Their solutions are summarized in this white paper. (Walt Vernon, Bay Area)

On the evening of March 23, in San Mateo, Mission Hospice and Home Care will present its 11th annual Night of Fun, a dinner-dance to benefit the Woodside Hospice House Campaign. The lively evening will include a special Italian dinner, dancing, raffle, and silent and live auctions. (Lisa Deal, Bay Area)

Attorney Harry Nelson, of Nelson Hardiman, an expert on America's healthcare future, a Forbes author, and an international educator on advancing standards in addiction treatment, has pledged to donate $1 million from the online profits of his soon-to-be-released new book, The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain, to charities across America in 2019. Also, Harry discussed opioid litigation and his new book on a recent Bloomberg Law podcast episode. (Harry Nelson, Los Angeles)

Fresenius Medical Care has successfully completed the acquisition of NxStage Medical, Inc., which develops, produces, and markets an innovative product portfolio of medical devices for use in home dialysis and critical care. The acquisition will enable Fresenius to leverage its manufacturing, supply chain, and marketing competencies across the dialysis products, services, and Care Coordination businesses in a less labor- and capital-intensive care setting. (Bob Funari, Orange County)

In Everything You Have Always Wanted to Know About On Lok PACE 2.0, On Lok explains that the National PACE Association has launched the PACE 2.0 project, an initiative that will expand access of PACE services to many high-need populations across the country. As part of PACE 2.0, On Lok is among nine PACE organizations across California, Oregon, and Washington which have formed the West Coast Collaborative and committed to enroll 2,000 new participants by October 1, 2019. (Grace Li, Bay Area)

The Journal of America's Physician Groups recently published Organ Donation: A Physician-Patient Conversation Worth Having, written by Tom Mone, CEO of OneLegacy. Tom asserts that physicians can be of great value by suggesting to their patients that they have a meaningful conversation with a donation specialist and make their organ donation decision known. Physicians are also uniquely positioned and charged with helping patients address their end-of-life planning. This planning should include becoming comfortable with the idea of donation and seeing it as an opportunity to give greater meaning to their loved ones or their own lives. This is especially true and valuable for patients whose cultural backgrounds and places of birth never exposed them to donation and transplantation. Just as physicians routinely ask their patients about their health and lifestyle habits, they should also take the time to ask patients if they are registered to be organ or tissue donors. (Tom Mone, Los Angeles)

EMS1 recently published an interview with Royal Ambulance - Q&A: How to encourage employee growth and maintain high standards, which discusses a variety of strategies, including: why it's important to encourage employees' career growth; how to maintain high standards in an industry known for turnover; qualities to look for in potential recruits; how the Disney Institute helps with training; helping employees get to the next stage of their careers; and innovation in retention strategies. (Steve Grau, Silicon Valley)

Satellite Healthcare has purchased a majority ownership of Tri-County Vascular Care, a freestanding vascular access surgery center located in South San Jose, to provide South Bay dialysis patients with timely, high-quality vascular access surgical services. Satellite will assume leadership of Tri-County Vascular Care, in partnership with many other area physicians. Vascular access is imperative for dialysis patients because it makes lifesaving treatments possible. The combined expertise of Satellite and Tri-County takes into consideration the individual patient's needs for optimal dialysis access, including fistulas, grafts and peritoneal dialysis catheters. These access options support patients who receive care in dialysis centers or perform dialysis at home. (Rick Barnett, Silicon Valley)

In How to Prevent Denied Claims: A Look at Denial Management in Healthcare, the SAVI Group shares that the first step in dealing with denial management is identifying why you're experiencing a high rate of denials. SAVI Group then delves into: looking at the root cause when dealing with denial management; discovering where mistakes are most often made; creating interdepartmental teams; learning good communication skills; prioritizing areas with the greatest impact on your budget; implementing a policy that checks patient eligibility throughout the entire care process; boosting employee education; creating an effective claims processing system; and incorporating IT tools to increase productivity and decrease denials. (Sumit Mahendru, Orange County)

Share Our Selves' 26th Annual Wild & Crazy Taco Night will take place on April 4, in Costa Mesa, a fun and festive evening where Orange County's finest chefs and restaurants each prepare an unusual and unique taco. Event proceeds benefit the SOS Food Pantry, which feeds more than 235 Orange County families each day. (Karen McGlinn, Orange County)

VivaLNK has announced its IoT-enabled medical wearable Sensor Platform, complete with a range of sensors, edge computing technologies, and an Internet of Health Things (IoHT) data cloud. This unique platform captures human vitals and biometrics, and delivers data from the patient to edge computing devices, as well as to the cloud, for application integration and analysis. Available through the VivaLNK Developer Program, the Sensor Platform enables IoHT solution partners to easily capture streams of patient data, such as heart and respiratory rates, temperature, ECG rhythms, activity and more. Partner Vitalic Medical is developing a bedside monitoring solution using the platform. Meanwhile, CEO Jiang Li has published, Why cardiac care is a key focus for the internet of healthcare things, in IoT Agenda. (Jiang Li, Silicon Valley)

Jason Ciment, CEO of Get Visible, recently gave a seminar to 50 attorneys in a special group within the Provisors community in Southern California. Jason has adapted his 18-step formula for digital marketing success into a how-to presentation for healthcare organizations - you may watch this 20-minute webinar here to see how easy it is for any healthcare organization to become its own chief digital marketing officer. Jason covers search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, and website design and conversion, with some extra advice for companies running WordPress-powered websites. (Jason Ciment, West Los Angeles Technology)

Los Angeles city leaders and Get Help recently debuted the Get Help LA app, which was created by The Development Factory. The app provides tools to refer people who are homeless to services, using geo-coding to show hospitals, addiction care centers, sexual assault resources, shelters, and other nearby resources. Los Angeles first responders have begun using the app in a pilot program, with a plan to release it to the general public after a six-month test period. Future features will include showing the number of available shelter beds in real time, and information about faith-based organizations that assist people experiencing homelessness. Get Help LA will provide training on use of the app and data tracking so that the City can measure the use and efficacy of this tool. (Andrew Bodis, Monrovia Technology)