• 4/03 - Orange County Round Table
• 4/09 - Silicon Valley Round Table
• 4/10 - San Francisco Round Table
• 4/11 - East Bay Round Table
• 4/19 - Los Angeles Round Table

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
• In Significant Shift, DOJ Takes Position that Affordable Care Act Is Unconstitutional. . .
• . . .Two Days Later, Federal District Judge Strikes Down Medicaid Work Requirements in Kentucky, Arkansas. . .
• . . .AND a Federal Judge Strikes Down Rule Skirting Requirements of ACA
• Meanwhile, Trump Pressured Republicans, Then Backed-off Seeking a Replacement for ACA. . .
• . . .AND 2020 Federal Budget Proposes Reducing Healthcare Spending, But Increasing MA Payments 2.53%


CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT
• Newsom Appoints Mark Ghaly, MD, MPH, to Head California HHS Agency
• Rising Number of Measles Cases in California Has Public Health Officials Concerned
• ABL ABBY Award Winner in 2015, LA County DPH Electronic Specialty Physician eConsults Trendsetter


HOSPITALS, SYSTEMS & MED GROUPS
• California Hospitals See Massive Surge in Homeless Patients
• San Jose #1, San Francisco #3, San Diego #6, L.A. #7 Highest Overall Healthcare Prices in U.S.
• Another Huge SF General Bill Gets Trimmed
• RAND: Earthquake Safety Law Could Put California's Hospitals in Financial Distress
• Hospital-Physician Consolidation Growth Trends Moderate
• Dignity Launches Own Specialty Pharmacy


SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
• Silicon Valley Boasts Nation's Lowest Unemployment Rate; San Francisco Close Behind


THE INTERNET, TELECOM & HEALTHCARE
• Social Media & Amazon Join Fight Against Vaccine Misinformation
• Alexa Deployed Across Patient Rooms at Cedars-Sinai
• One Drop Partners with Amazon Choice on Digital Diabetes Services
• Global Telemedicine Market Will Hit $130 Billion by 2025: Report
• 10 Startups Tackling Problem of High Prescription Drug Costs


BIOTECH & MEDTECH BREAKTHROUGHS
• Mammoth Biosciences Adds Final Piece of CRISPR Diagnostics Puzzle to Toolkit
• Apple Watch Has Mixed Results in Big Heart Study

Carl Zeiss Medical Technology Segment has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for the CIRRUS HD-OCT platform, expanding the capabilities of its Anterior Segment Premier Module to include Epithelial Thickness Mapping (ETM). ETM with CIRRUS provides a detailed nine-millimeter map of epithelial thickness that enables more thorough assessment of patients before refractive surgery, allows monitoring of the cornea's response to treatment, and aids in managing patients with ocular surface disorders such as dry eye and progressive corneal diseases such as keratoconus. With ETM, patients can expect a quick, comfortable, non-contact exam that takes less than one second. (Angelo Rago)

On the evening of May 2, in Berkeley, the Center for Elders' Independence will present its annual PACE Party, a fundraiser gala to help give at-risk seniors access to high-quality personalized medical care, healthy meals, opportunities to socialize and create, training and access to technology, as well as resources for caregivers to better care for themselves and their beloved seniors. (Linda Trowbridge)

Choice in Aging (CiA) has unveiled plans for its new Aging in Place Campus, which include rebuilding and expanding the adult day health care services center - doubling its current capacity; providing a new campus for the Choice in Learning preschool - featuring intergenerational programming with students and seniors; and adding 81 units of low-income senior housing on a four-acre site. The project is in its early stages, with the first entitlements package recently submitted to the City of Pleasant Hill. CiA is striving to address the city's need for more affordable senior housing and to provide wrap-around services for seniors and people with disabilities, and must now focus on the capital campaign. Meanwhile, CiA encourages all to participate in the May 7th Senior Rally Day in Sacramento. AND, CiA CEO Debbie Toth has been chosen as Senate District 3, Contra Costa County's Woman of the Year. (Debbie Toth)

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)

Dave Haddick of PSYCHeANALYTICS recently made a presentation at Health Moonshot Showcase 2019 - watch the 3:31-minute video here. The company is on a moonshot to cure the crisis in behavioral health with primary care. PSYCHeANALYTICS' AI-driven, SaaS assessment and decision support delivers treatment suggestions to the provider at the time of the office visit. (Dave Haddick)

Wipfli LLP continues to experience growth nationally and has ranked 19th-largest CPA firm on Accounting Today's 2019 Top 100 Firms. Wipfli has moved up the Top 100 Firms rankings for the last two years, which can be attributed to mergers and acquisitions in new geographies and expanded value-added services to existing clients. (Rich Gianello, Jeff Johnson, Steve Rousso, Tony Taddey, & Larry Blitz)

Anthem Blue Cross is the initial Founding Member of the Artificial Intelligence for Health (AIHealth) program, a corporate affiliates program within the Stanford Department of Computer Science. This collaboration will utilize healthcare data to develop unbiased, explainable AI algorithms to improve the efficiency, value and delivery of healthcare for Anthem Blue Cross in California and affiliated health plans in Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Advancements in patient literacy, patient engagement, and healthcare transparency have been identified as the first areas to be addressed through this relationship. (David Pryor, MD)

ForbesBooks has released The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain, written by Harry Nelson, founder of Nelson Hardiman. As a healthcare attorney, Harry has spent the past two decades responding to overdose deaths and solving problems related to pain prescribing and addiction treatment. His new book offers fresh insights into how the health system needs to adapt in order to address the crisis effectively, including tools for patients and families in navigating challenges around addiction, chronic pain, and underlying challenges, such as isolation, stress, and anxiety. Harry makes the case that the real answer to the crisis comes not in the form of top-down solutions from Washington, D.C., but in grassroots efforts to end the culture of shame around pain, addiction, and opioid use. The book offers meaningful and concrete steps for people to take, as well as guidance on how to transition from being passive bystanders of the crisis to active agents of change. (Harry Nelson)

At a time when the international community is becoming increasingly aware of the power of organ, tissue and eye donation and transplantation, OneLegacy CEO Tom Mone recently traveled to South Korea to spread that message and discuss best practices with local officials and related organizations, including the director of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the National Assembly's Health and Wellness Committee, and officials from the Korean Organ Donor Program. Tom shared what is involved from both a cost and programmatic standpoint in becoming a certified eye bank center. Tom's visit to South Korea comes on the heels of his visit late last year to China, where he trained physicians and nurses in the operations of organ, tissue and eye donation programs. (Tom Mone)

Alvaka Networks will host a live and interactive webinar - Software Security Patching: Why you are struggling with this essential task!, from 10-11 a.m. Pacific, on the following dates: April 5, 12, 19 and 26; May 3, 10, 17 and 24; and June 7. Unpatched vulnerabilities are a leading source of compromise, and yet many organizations struggle to stay current on their patching and leave themselves exposed to security breaches. This webinar will take a deep dive into this complex security dilemma, what the risks are, and how you can start to solve this problem. (Oli Thordarson)

Ceresti Health reports that an analysis of pre/post program costs from a small pilot study determined that Ceresti reduced healthcare costs for multi-chronic patients with dementia by 30+% against a control population. This ability to impact costs is possible because the company is highly effective at engaging family caregivers with technology and coaching in their homes. Data from multiple ongoing pilot studies shows that Ceresti coaches spend 20-25 minutes a week speaking directly with caregivers and this drives another 45-60 minutes of weekly self-engagement by caregivers to access educational content and support on the tablets provided by Ceresti. Also, the company is seeing average coaching calls and program adherence increase over time. (Dirk Soenksen)

The US General Services Administration recently awarded MYnd Analytics with a five-year Federal Supply Schedule contract as a government supplier, with the opportunity to renew it for 15 more years. Under the contract, MYnd offers health IT services related to MYnd's Psychiatric EEG Evaluation Registry to federal government departments and agencies, including the DOD and VA, which is America's largest integrated healthcare system with 1,400+ sites of care, serving almost nine million veterans annually. Meanwhile, MYnd's wholly owned subsidiary, Arcadian Telepsychiatry Services, has joined the Magellan Healthcare behavioral health provider network to offer telepsychiatry, teletherapy, and teleEAP services to its members through Arcadian's provider network. And, MYnd-Arcadian has partnered with IMPACT Solutions to provide teleEAP services for IMPACT's customers through its provider network. (George Carpenter)

WKRC television news in Cincinnati, Ohio, recently featured the DCISionRT test from Prelude Corporation in a story entitled, "Hamilton hospital uses test to predict radiation outcomes for breast cancer patients." In summary, a woman who had surgery for her stage 0 breast cancer (ductal carcinoma in situ) then chose to have further testing using DCISionRT, which determines the likelihood that the tumor will come back within the first 10 years. The test presents a percentage likelihood if the patient has only the surgery, compared to if they also have radiation, allowing the patient to make a more informed choice. (Dan Forche)

In Ways to Supercharge Your Medical Practice Revenue in 2019, SAVI Group discusses: Revisit your billing and coding operations to stay on top of new innovations and coding changes; Improve your communication strategy with patients, vendors, and employees, utilizing today's technological capabilities; Focus on scheduling to establish guidelines and policies and look into digital scheduling systems; Promote your specialties to build a niche for yourself. (Sumit Mahendru)

Covered California has released an extensive report, Covered California's Efforts to Lower Costs While Ensuring Consumers Get the Right Care at the Right Time, to provide a first look at the results of its efforts to assure those enrolled get quality care and that contracted plans work to lower costs throughout the delivery system. The initial analysis shows that Covered California's health plans are making steady progress in improving quality and safety, which in turn helps keeps healthcare costs down. The report also detailed the progress contracted plans have made in increasing their efforts to "pay for value." Also, Covered California recently presented Options to Improve Affordability in California's Individual Health Insurance Market, to state leaders, the result of months of work with leading economists and stakeholders. (Kathy Keeshen)

Elizabeth Landsverk MD, of ElderConsult Geriatric Medicine, will speak at the Rotary Health and Aging Conference about Medications, on April 12, in Burlingame. And, on April 17, she will speak at the Santa Cruz Bar Association Estate Planning Council about issues with dementia, particularly undiagnosed dementia, that can adversely impact elders and their families legally. More information. (Elizabeth Landsverk MD)

On May 1, King & Spalding will broadcast a webinar that will present the sessions from its 6th Annual Cybersecurity & Privacy Summit, which will be taking place in Atlanta. Participants will engage in informative, practical sessions on cybersecurity oversight for executives and board members, legislative and enforcement developments, business email compromise and ransomware schemes, cybersecurity insurance considerations, state-sponsored economic espionage and trade secret theft, financial regulatory developments, media coverage of the cyber beat, and more. (Marcia Augsburger & Travis Jackson)

The article, What's the power paradigm shift and how are hospitals prime to lead?, co-authored by Mazzetti's Walt Vernon and Troy Savage, reports that the rapid advancement of technology is forcing people to reevaluate the opportunities and, resultantly, regulations for how power is provided to critical facilities like hospitals. Code-making organizations, hospital facility planners and teams must understand how the combination of economics and technological advancements has bent the concept of "emergency power" to the breaking point. For the sake of the safety of healthcare facilities and the benefit of patients, new ways of thinking about, and designing for, emergency power generation are required. (Walt Vernon)

On the evening of May 17, On Lok will hold its Celebrates! Event in downtown San Francisco, which will benefit its wide-ranging programs for seniors, including healthcare, social activities, wellness and fitness, and nutrition and meal delivery. The gala will include live entertainment, drinks, food tasting stations from Bay Area chefs, and a live auction with wonderful experiences. (Grace Li)

The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department and Getting to Zero initiative aim to reduce stigma and increase education about HIV treatment with the launch of U=U, an ad campaign which stands for Undetectable Equals Untransmittable. Ads in English and Spanish feature five HIV-positive Bay Area residents and are appearing on buses, light rail, and at restaurants, bars and clubs, as well as popular social networks. The campaign urges HIV-positive individuals to begin and maintain treatment to reach untransmittable status. For every HIV infection that is prevented, an estimated $360,000 is saved in the cost of providing lifetime HIV treatment, according to the CDC. The campaign is part of Getting to Zero Santa Clara County-Silicon Valley, a four-year initiative that strives for zero new HIV infections, zero HIV-related deaths, and zero HIV-related stigma. (Tyler Haskell)

Tad and Dianne Taube and Mary and Doug Scrivner have committed $10 million to benefit mental health and addiction services at El Camino Hospital. The gifts will help fund a new 36-bed mental health and addictions building, a new programmatic adolescent mental health endowment, and the After-School Program Interventions and Resiliency Education endowment. Meanwhile, El Camino is the first hospital in California to have successfully performed the new and recently FDA-approved lung valve treatment for patients with severe COPD/emphysema. The Zephyr Endobronchial Valve treatment is the first minimally invasive procedure to help emphysema sufferers breathe easier without major surgery. (Michelle McGowen & Cecile Currier)

VivaLNK has announced that more than 30 healthcare solution companies, in over 10 countries, are building the next wave of connected wearable healthcare solutions on its new IoT Medical Wearable Sensor Platform. Available through the VivaLNK Developer Program, VivaLNK is the first to provide an integrated IoT medical sensor software development kit for healthcare application developers to access various sensors and data integration options, thereby minimizing the need to source from multiple vendors for a complete solution. For example, partner AiCare, a company that successfully started in Japan and is now serving the U.S. and Taiwan markets, offers personalized health monitoring solutions such as real-time activity analysis, location tracking, and health monitoring for residents of nursing care facilities. Meanwhile, Jiang Li, VivaLNK CEO, wrote Medical wearables offer new hope for diabetes patients in IoT Agenda. (from VivaLNK: Jiang Li; from AiCare: Sean Tan)

Clutch has named Sidebench to the 2019 Clutch LA Leaders List as a leading App and Software Developer, and a leader in UX Design in Los Angeles. Also, Sidebench and the WITH Foundation took the SXSW stage on March 11 to present "Equitable Design for Persons with Disabilities." This workshop, the team's third, focused on educating participants on the best practices for designing accessible products while equipping them with the skills needed to implement Universal Design practices into their own company. Sign up here to receive copies of the workshop materials. Meanwhile, Kevin Yamazaki has published several recent articles: "For User Experience Design That Delights, Put People First," in Tech.co; "How to Design an IoT Product Customers Will Actually Want to Use," in Forbes; and "How can apps expand the reach of behavioral health specialists," in MedCity News. Read all of these articles here. (Kevin Yamazaki)