COVID NEWS- You May Have Missed

• California Governor Announces New COVID-19 Reopening Rules for Businesses, Schools
• California's Case Curve Shrinks Again: 7-Day Case Average Hits New Low
• Health Officials Say 30,000 Enrolled in COVID-19 Vaccine Trials So Far; Two Candidates in Phase 3 Trials, with More on the Way
• Abbott's $5, 15-Minute, Easy-to-Use COVID Antigen Test Gets FDA Emergency Use Authorization
• Trump Announces Plasma Treatment Authorized for COVID-19
• FDA's Authority to Regulate Lab Tests Is Curtailed
• CMS Announces New Nursing Home Testing, Reporting, Training Requirements in Light of COVID Pandemic

OTHER HEALTHCARE NEWS

• California's SB 977 Could Stifle Healthcare M&A, Regulatory Experts Say
• California Poised to Become Leader on Mental Health Coverage
• Amazon Rolls Out 'Halo' Wellness Tracker That It Says Can Also Sense Moods

As the workforce continues to cope with and adapt to COVID-19's impact, many Americans will find that, going forward, they'll require new digital skills. To meet this accelerated demand, Wipfli and fellow Rework America Alliance members are collaborating with companies, organizations, and public interest groups to help millions of workers gain these new capabilities. Alliance members are providing coaching and training, identifying high-demand jobs, helping to create more, and determining ways to connect workers with jobs. (Jeff Johnson, OAK, & Steve Rousso)

Stacey Wong, who heads the Healthcare Division of award-winning environmental services firm Servicon Systems, wants to clear up some misinformation regarding various types of fogging or misting devices that have been flooding the marketplace during the COVID-19 crisis, and are being improperly used by some EVS companies in healthcare facilities. These devices are commonly used for pesticide, odor control, or other wide-area spraying applications, but recently a number of EVS companies have been offering disinfectant services with devices that do not have EPA registration or CDC guidance in their application. With few exceptions, fogging and misting devices are not to be used in applications of disinfectants - it is a violation of federal law, and the application changes the chemistry of the product that in effect changes its efficacy. More information. (Stacey Wong, LA)

SAVI Group's Sumit Mahendru is a speaker in the current on-demand webinar - How Data is Helping to Modernize Healthcare: Driving Revenue from Existing Data Assets, which examines how data is helping to shape a better future within the healthcare industry; how analytic apps are helping to transform businesses; and how a company can create new revenue streams from existing assets. (Sumit Mahendru, OC)

Tom Mone, CEO of OneLegacy, was named "Outstanding Organizational CEO" in the recent LA Business Journal Health Care Leadership Awards. He was also a panelist in the virtual program, where among the information he shared was: the transplant waiting list in Greater L.A. has declined in the last two years, largely because organ donations are up 30%; while the African American population in Greater L.A. is only 7% of the total, they receive 11% of the transplanted organs; so far, OneLegacy has been able to transplant every organ they've received during COVID; and there haven't been any COVID transmissions among OneLegacy's staff. Also, Tom wrote Answering the Call and Saving Lives Through Organ Donation for the LABJ, in which he shares that OneLegacy is currently on pace for a significant increase in organ donations over last year's record-setting numbers. (Tom Mone, LA)

Harry Nelson, Founding Partner of Nelson Hardiman, will participate in the California Addiction Conference, in October. Meanwhile, Harry was quoted in Bloomberg Law articles: Entire Opioid Supply Chain Faces First Test in New York Case and With Billions at Stake, States Plan Dividing Purdue Opioid Money. And, noted for his specialty in healthcare law and his focus on COVID-19, Harry has been selected by peers for inclusion in "The Best Lawyers in America 2021," for the tenth consecutive year. (Harry Nelson, JD, LA)

Medwand is spotlighted in a recent article - Telehealth on Cruise Ships: A Safer Way to Handle Sick Passengers?, which cites a 2013 study that showed one in five seagoing ships is forced to diverge because of medical emergencies, at a cost of $180,000 per diversion; 25% of these diversions could be avoided if operators had telehealth systems in place. "If you have ten cruise ships, you can have one doctor examine patients on all ships equipped with MedWands, instead of having a doctor on each ship," says MedWand's CEO, who also said, "Freight ships don't have to go off course if a doctor can literally examine the patient from shore." Meanwhile, MedWand has produced a video in which it monitors and compares oxygen levels while exercising while wearing a medical mask vs a cloth mask. (Bob Rose, OC)

On September 1, Walt Vernon, Mazzetti CEO, will participate as a panelist in NOT Another COVID-19 Webinar, along with representatives from Stanford University Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente, and more. The webinar will: address the latest known science and evidence regarding airborne transmission of COVID-19; quickly highlight a spectrum of responses in hospitals across the country; and then discuss how COVID has been a catalyst in the bigger risk mitigation and emergency preparedness conversation, as well as the code implications (or lack thereof). Meanwhile, Mazzetti recently celebrated a virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony for MarinHealth Medical Center's new $535-million hospital wing, along with project partners Perkins Eastman, Morrow, McCarthy Building Companies, Peterson Mechanical, and Pan Pacific. (Walt Vernon, JD, SF)

The implementation of TestDirectly, a scalable solution developed and designed by LigoLab Information System, has significantly improved COVID-19 testing in DuPage County, IL, and many other counties across the U.S. - thanks to intuitive patient self-registration and scheduling, shorter wait times, and much faster turnaround times for test results. For DuPage County, in particular, patient pre-registration with TestDirectly's electronic workflow has removed the issues they were having with handwritten order forms and with patient communication at the Wheaton, IL drive-through location, enabling the site to serve more people and get them their results quickly and easily. (Suren Avunjian, LA)

LifeLong Medical Care is among the safety-net clinics recently receiving grants from HHS, through the Health Resources and Services Administration. HHS has awarded $117+ million in quality improvement awards to 1,318 health centers. HRSA-funded health centers provide comprehensive care for uninsured and low-income patients. The awards are intended to improve access to primary care services and promote quality improvement projects. According to HHS's announcement, LifeLong received $55,000 for Patient Centered Medical Home Recognition and $10,750 for Advancing Health Information Technology for Quality. The quality improvement awards recognize both those health centers that demonstrated significant quality improvements over the past year and those that are the highest-performing overall. (Mike Stacey, MD, OAK)

KMD Architects' design for EvergreenHealth's new Critical Care Unit has been included in the American Institute of Architects' COVID-19 ArchMap, which helps identify solutions to growing bed-surge needs and supports the development of design best practices for alternative-care sites that support pandemic response. EvergreenHealth's CCU is designed to immediately respond to increased capacity needs for Airborne Infectious Isolation. (Rob Matthew, SF)

Marcia Augsburger, a Partner in King & Spalding, co-wrote a recent article in Bloomberg Law - How to Launch a Femtech/Telehealth Start Up. Femtech applies to a category of software, diagnostics, and other products and services that use technology to focus on women's health. Women drive the vast majority of healthcare decisions in the U.S., and are increasingly demanding products that give them agency over their own biological functions. The growth in Femtech also corresponds with growth in at-home testing, investment in digital health products, an enormous demand for telehealth solutions, and increasing pressure on private and government insurers to pay for it. The article provides a checklist of legal issues to help Femtech and telehealth companies plan, prior to launch. (Marcia Augsburger, JD, SF; Travis Jackson, JD)

Research scientists from Kaiser Permanente (KP) Division of Research in Northern California, Center for Health Research in the Northwest, and Department of Research & Evaluation in Southern California are participating in phase 3 trials of a vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, while scientists at KP HRI in Seattle are enrolling participants in phase 3 trials of the NIAID/Moderna co-developed vaccine. Further, 17 KP hospitals were among the world's largest enrollers of patients into remdesivir trials that took place in 152 medical facilities worldwide. And several KP regions are participating in a Mayo Clinic-led study in which blood plasma from those who have recovered from COVID-19 is used to treat some patients with severe COVID-19 or those at high risk for progression to it. Researchers are also studying how the pandemic may affect care trends for conditions other than COVID-19. (Marcos Vasconcelos, OAK)

Inglewood Imaging Center has finalized terms with Siemens Medical, Hologic, and Agiliti on a multi-modality equipment facility upgrade, which already includes new DEXA, Ultrasound and X-ray units, with new MRI and 3D Tomosynthesis Mammo units on their way. CEO Brad Schmidt exclaims, "The new x-ray, for example, is delivering accurate images at up to 62% less radiation than the older generation systems, while our new ultrasound will add echocardiography, OB and general imaging in a remarkably compact package." (Brad Schmidt, LA)

The Barton Health Foundation has awarded HumanGood a $10,000 grant to support the creation of a Compassionate Connections program at HumanGood's Kelly Ridge and Tahoe Senior Plaza affordable housing communities in South Lake Tahoe, California. The program will provide residents with access to tablet computers in order to reduce social isolation and restart life-enrichment activities. And the technology will allow residents to participate in monthly health and wellness seminars, and give them the opportunity to utilize telehealth services. (Tara McGuinness, OAK)

In Felton Institute's Senior Division: Dealing with the Pandemic Through Technology, Felton Institute describes how it works closely with service providers to connect seniors and school children to low-cost broadband, and how the pandemic has transformed this important effort into an essential requirement. Being connected today is critical for accessing healthcare, seeking employment, and overcoming social isolation - all areas that Felton's services are deeply committed to. "Within our mental health programs ... it is safest now to provide services virtually through telehealth. "We have doubled our efforts to make sure every client is equipped with the specific technology that works best for them." Meanwhile, Felton's San Francisco Suicide Prevention report is quoted in a recent San Francisco Chronicle article, What if 'nothing ever goes back to normal'? Depression, anxiety mount in Bay Area. (Al Gilbert, OAK)

On a recent My Wakeup Call podcast episode, Dr. Mark Goulston interviews Jennifer Ty, CEO of Excell Home Care, whose "wakeup call" was being trained as an engineer, but realizing a passion for risk taking to solve problems people were ignoring, as well as caring about people and the central importance of empathy. (Jennifer Ty, OC)

In an effort to help Californians who have been impacted by the 500+ wildfires burning across the state, and to build on the help provided to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing recession, Covered California announced the establishment of new paths to coverage program that will run through the end of 2020. Consumers who are victims of the wildfires, or who lose their jobs - even if they do not receive healthcare coverage through their employer - and those who suffer a loss of income, could be eligible to sign up for coverage. Covered California initially responded to the COVID-19 emergency by opening the health insurance exchange from March 20 to Aug. 31 to any eligible uninsured individuals who needed coverage. With that special-enrollment period expired, new qualifying life events will continue to help consumers sign up for healthcare coverage during this turbulent time. (Kathy Keeshen, JD, SF)

Inc. magazine has named Competitive Health, Inc. to its latest Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. In their third consecutive year on the list, Competitive Health ranks #2,292, posting a 187.73% three-year revenue growth rate. CEO Kim Darling declared, "As the great Phil Jackson stated, 'The key to a 3-peat is change. You can't repeat the formula. Your opponent has already figured it out. You have to keep growing. Continue into the unknown.'" (Kim Darling, OC)

The most-recent episode of "Dishing with Debbie" - Updates on the Master Plan for Aging - is available to watch here, featuring special guest Kim McCoy-Wade, Director of the California Department of Aging. (Debbie Toth, OAK)

Bayer and Informed Data Systems Inc. (One Drop), a US-based digital health company, have entered into an agreement to jointly develop digital health products for multiple therapeutic areas. In 2019, Bayer invested $20 million in a Series B financing in One Drop and entered into a licensing agreement for Bayer to independently develop and commercialize digital health products based on the One Drop platform. Moving forward, the partners will shift their collaboration to jointly evolve One Drop's platform to allow for a faster and modular development of solutions to manage conditions in, for example, oncology, cardiovascular diseases, and women's health. (Rama Penta, SV)

In A Return-to-Work Framework In a COVID World, Axene Health Partners notes that risk management requires making some educated risk-mitigating calculations to best adapt under a 'new normal' in case COVID is not eradicated via vaccine. Under such a scenario, [it will be necessary to take] strict precautions to return to work, minimizing the damage inflicted by COVID. If an adequately effective vaccine is not available by early-2021, we will need to implement a measured and tactful return to a functioning economy. (John Price, SF)

In Ransomware Attacks Can Target Your System Backups, Alvaka Networks reports that ransomware can now prevent your ability to recover from backups: "It does not matter whether the backups are in the cloud, on tape, or on spinning media; the hackers have gotten quite adept at targeting and destroying backups wherever they reside." Alvaka then shares options to stay safe, including "Air Gap" backups. Alvaka goes deeper into this cyber-defense strategy in Air Gapped Backups: What is it and how does DRworx solution fit the criteria? and Important Questions and Answers about DRworx. (Oli Thordarson, OC)