Anthem Blue Cross Expands Access to Home Delivered Meal Program for Medi-Cal Members
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Anthem Blue Cross has expanded a recently launched home delivered meal program to address increased food insecurity and nutritional needs that are emerging amid the ongoing pandemic. Last December, Anthem partnered with Mom's Meals and Project Open Hand to launch a medically tailored meal program for its Medi-Cal members in the Central Valley, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area who face chronic disease and complex health challenges. Now, because COVID-19 has increased referrals, Anthem has responded by expanding the program to make home-delivered meals available to Anthem Medi-Cal members across the state to ensure that eligible members receive at least one ready-to-eat meal a day, seven days a week. (David Pryor, MD, LA)
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Bayer Supports Harvard Study to Evaluate Trust in Science, Including in COVID-19 Pandemic
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With the public debate on the merits of scientific data throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Bayer announced its support for a new, multi-year Harvard Data Science Initiative (HDSI) research effort. The research fund supports the advancement of trust in science through data-driven, actionable insights. Its first undertaking will be to study the public response to scientists and scientific findings in the wake of COVID-19, with other trust in science topics addressed in the future. These findings can guide future activities that strengthen the role of science and facts in decision making. Bayer has committed to support this multi-year research initiative with a total of $1 million. (Rama Penta, SV)
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Cigna Adds Services to Support Patients During this Challenging Time
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Cigna is expanding its digital capabilities to help customers by partnering with Collective Medical to identify customers, in real-time, checking into emergency care settings with COVID-19 symptoms. With this information, Cigna Care Advocates can quickly engage these customers and connect them with programs to support whole person health, such as care management, remote patient monitoring, and behavioral health support. Also, Cigna has launched the Cigna Care Card to help clients provide financial assistance to keep employees healthy and supported during this challenging time. The new offering will make it easier for employers to support the well-being and peace of mind of employees and their families by designating a tax-free dollar amount to cover expenses incurred as a result of COVID-19. Meanwhile, Cigna's 14 million customers enrolled in employer-sponsored plans can now talk and text with licensed therapists, who are available on-demand via TalkSpace. In addition, customers who are facing issues related to anxiety, depression and burnout, and/or who are experiencing substance use or obsessive compulsive disorders, will have broader access to virtual treatment services through an expanded network of providers. (Chris De Rosa, OC)
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Covered California Sees 123,000+ Consumers Sign Up for Coverage During Pandemic
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More than 123,000 people have signed up for healthcare coverage through Covered California since March 20, when the exchange announced a special-enrollment period in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, since Covered California ended its open-enrollment period on January 31, 191,380 people signed up for coverage through May 16, which is nearly two times as many as seen during the same period as last year. (Kathy Keeshen, JD, SF)
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Elemeno Health Featured in Recent Podcast & Industry Journal
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Arup Roy-Burman, MD, CEO of Elemeno Health, was recently interviewed on The Handoff podcast, discussing how EHRs, facility guidelines, and clinical innovations have led to a massive increase in complexity across the healthcare industry. Arup recounts how, as a physician, he saw firsthand that this led to deviations from best practices that resulted in errors. Wanting a solution, and drawing inspiration from Salesforce, Arup sought to use technology as an enabler and founded Elemeno to deliver just-in-time micro learnings for frontline clinicians. Elemeno also uses gamification to drive adoption and accountability within a unit. Also, Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry (MD+DI) magazine spotlighted Elemeno Health in its recent article: App Puts an Expert in Nurses' Pockets to Reduce Medical Errors . . . now customized for COVID-19. (Arup Roy-Burman, MD, OAK)
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Health Coach Institute Offers New Videos
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Home Safety Services Provides Virtual Showroom Tours
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As a result of California's recent shelter-in-place orders, Home Safety Services has been providing public access to its Home Modification Solution Center via Zoom and Facebook video chats - virtually opening its showroom to share the most up-to-date in-home fall prevention solutions. (Martin Simenc, SV)
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Irvine Health Foundation Reports on OC Community Resilience Fund & Greater Opportunities
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In Our Community During the Pandemic: OC Strong, Irvine Health Foundation (IHF) describes the OC Community Resilience Fund, a coordinated effort to focus resources, reduce duplicative efforts, and maximize impact by focusing on the most immediate needs faced by community-based organizations operating in Orange County who have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Between March 12 and April 13, $3.2 million was raised for the fund. And, in Scaling Up "Impact" in a Post-COVID Society, IHF publishes an article that lays out an "opportunity for foundations in Orange County to lead California, and the U.S., to help reshape a post-Covid society. . . in a joined-up approach. . . focusing on achieving clear societal outcomes rather than financial ones. . . This could be an opportunity for Orange County, and California, to give back and again lead the agenda around the next stage of capitalism." (Ed Kacic, OC)
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King & Spalding Provides Healthcare Organizations with "Coronavirus Recovery Tools"
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LigoLab Hosts Discussion on COVID-19 Testing - Download is Available
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MayView Community Health Center Clinics Acquired by Ravenswood Family Health Network
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The South County Community Health Center, dba Ravenswood Family Health Network in East Palo Alto, announced their successful acquisition of MayView Community Health Center Clinics, serving north Santa Clara County in Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale. Ravenswood will brand their combined sites as "Members of the Ravenswood Family Health Network." Initially, the expanded Ravenswood network, employing around 300 staff, including 50+ clinicians, is expected to serve 27,000 low income patients with approximately 100,000 patient encounters each year. (Ken Graham, SV)
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Nelson Hardiman Addresses Legal & Practical Issues of Reopening Healthcare Organizations
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PreludeDx Publishes Video & Report About DCISionRT
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PreludeDx has published a video about how its DCISionRT helps to prioritize DCIS patients during COVID-19. Also, PreludeDx shares a recent report: "Independent validation of DCISionRT in a Kaiser Permanente Northwest cohort of 455 patients validated the test to be prognostic for 10-Yr DCIS recurrence risk assessment." (Dan Forche, OC)
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Royal Ambulance EMTs Step Up to Work in SNFs Overwhelmed with COVID-19
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A recent article - Calif. EMS agency deploys providers to overwhelmed nursing facilities - details how Royal Ambulance sent 30 of its EMTs to staff eight skilled nursing facilities that were overwhelmed due to COVID-19 illnesses among staff and patients, to help with daily care of elderly and vulnerable residents. The facilities were in San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Alameda. The Royal EMTs worked with SNF employees in the role of a CNA, helping with tasks such as bathing and feeding, and showing care and compassion to the residents. (Steve Grau, SV)
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Savi Group Spotlights Sumit Mahendru
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Sumit Mahendru is featured in Savi Group's recent Expert Series interviews, noting his focus on innovation, data-based decision making, and financial best practices. Sumit discusses how technology is helping the healthcare industry, why data is so important, and more. (Sumit Mahendru, OC)
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Servicon Team Achieves Infection Control Risk Assessment Certification
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Vital Link Debuts YouTube Video
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Vital Link has published a new 30-second video about its medical alert system. (Art Hoffman, OAK)
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Wipfli Addresses the Impact of COVID on Critical Access & Rural Hospitals
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