UPCOMING ABL-HEALTH
ROUND TABLES

To ensure the safety of our Members, these upcoming invitation-only events will be held via ZOOM. See your Round Table invitation for participation instructions, and the ABL.org Members Only website for all the Healthcare Round Table invitation specifics. (If you haven't already received an invitation to a ZOOM Table you would like to attend, please email [email protected] for details.)


• 5/05 - ABL-Health OC Zoom Table - Taking Healthcare AI from Potential to Reality
• 5/11 - ABL-Health SV Zoom Table - How to Be A 'Best Place to Work'
• 5/12 - ABL-Health SF Zoom Table - Lessons Learned from the Fine Art of FOCUSING
• 5/20 - ABL-Health OAK Zoom Table - With COVID Receding, Let's Address Medication Errors!
• 5/21 - ABL-Health LA Zoom Table - INTEROPERABILITY IS COMING - at last!
• Explore Membership in ABL's Executive Round Tables >>>

• Alvaka Networks Provides Insight on 320% Spike in Ransonware Demands
• Biospectal Chosen to Represent Switzerland at Mobile World Congress in June
• Choice in Aging to Host "Master Plan for Aging" Event
• Cigna + Oscar Expands Small Biz Access to Affordable Health Plans in California
• Competitive Health Unveils New Video on Digital Health Solutions
• Covered California Provides Special Enrollment Period to Accommodate American Rescue Plan
• El Camino Health Gets 5 Stars from CMS & Named to Fortune/IBM Watson 100 Top Hospitals
• Elemeno Health Wins 1st Place in JHF Healthcare Innovation and Safety Competition
• GeBBS Healthcare Addresses Coding Denials, Compliance Risk & Revenue Integrity
• Hospice East Bay Anticipates Annual Gala to Honor Hospice Heroes
• HumanGood Affiliates with Washington-state Retirement Community & Receives Grant for iPads
• Kaiser Permanente Tackling Systemic Racism & Trauma
• Kencor Health Featured in Harvard Business Review
• King & Spalding Ranked a Top Firm + Discusses Laws Regarding Medical Devices, Telemedicine & More
• KMD Architects Heralds Kaiser's Next-Gen Medical Center in West Berkeley
• LifeLong Medical Care's Mike Stacey Interviewed About COVID Vaccines
• LigoLab Offers Automated Real-Time Software Solution for Prior Authorization Requirements
• Mahmee Provides Helpful Info on Pregnancy-Related Issues
• Mazzetti's Lighting Design Reduces Stress, Improves Comfort in Healthcare
• MedWand Named One of 25 Healthcare Disruptors to Watch
• On Lok Finds that PACE Keeps Seniors Safer than Nursing Homes During COVID
• PreludeDx Study Demonstrates High Clinical Utility of DCISionRT
• Providence Digital Innovation Group Seeks Collaboration
• Satellite Healthcare Launches Nephrology MSO
• Savi Group Urges Use of AI & Contactless Payments
• SimpleTherapy Partners with Healthy Business Group
• VivaLNK Details Ambulatory Considerations for RPM Technologies
• Wipfli Healthcare Webinars Address Cybersecurity Compliance, PPS Reconciliations & Senior Living

• Eckert & Ziegler: Building Radiopharma Facility in Brazil; Gets Technetium Generator Licenses for Brazil
• Tanner Research CEO to Present Virtual Nutrition Science Workshops

ABL-TECH MEMBERS' HEALTHCARE NEWS

Eckert & Ziegler (EZ) is expanding in Berlin, Germany, with a manufacturing facility dedicated to late-stage investigational and commercial-stage radiopharmaceuticals, to be operational Q1 2022. Together with a new U.S.-based facility, EZ will be able to provide radiopharmaceutical development services to companies looking for Europe, US and worldwide contract manufacturing.
Also, the Brazilian regulator ANVISA has provided EZ Brasil Comercial Ltda. with a license to import and distribute technetium generators - a core component for a nuclear imaging procedure called SPECT, used for the detection of medical abnormalities. EZ already services about 500 hospitals/clinics in Brazil with medical devices and radioisotopes, and hopes to start shipping SPECT products in Q3 2021.
Meanwhile, EZ announced that it will divest its tumour radiation equipment business and, as a first step, has sold 51% of the shares in BEBIG Medical GmbH to Chinese company TCL Healthcare Equipment in Shanghai. (Frank Yeager, ABL-Tech SGV)

On the evenings of May 13 (click here) and June 2 (click here), John Tanner, Ph.D., of Tanner Research, will present free Nutrition Science Virtual Workshops, via Zoom, where he will relay to participants the scientific information they need to avoid heart disease and other leading killers with a proper diet. The group will discuss strategies for change and John will field questions, plus give a free book to participants. (John Tanner, Ph.D., ABL-Tech SGV)

HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY NEWS & TRENDS

On April 28, the White House announced the American Families Plan (AFP), after signing the American Rescue Plan (ARP) into law in March. Regarding healthcare, the AFP, according to a White House release, will extend the expanded health insurance tax credits in the ARP*. "These credits are providing premium relief that is lowering health insurance costs by an average of $50 per person per month for nine million people, and will enable four million uninsured people to gain coverage." The AFP would create a national comprehensive paid family and medical leave program, will "allow people to manage their health and the health of their families," and "will provide critical nutrition assistance to families who need it most and expand access to healthy meals to our nation's students." In all, the American Families Plan includes $1 trillion in investments and $800 billion in tax credits for American families, workers, and children over ten years.
*According to CBS News, the American Rescue Plan expands eligibility for subsidies to purchase health insurance to people of all incomes under the Affordable Care Act. It also incentivizes states to expand Medicaid under the ACA by having the federal government pay for new recipients. Several million people could save hundreds of dollars in healthcare costs once the bill becomes law.

Thirdly, President Biden has proposed the American Jobs Plan, which calls on Congress to put $400 billion toward expanding access to quality, affordable home- or community-based care for aging relatives and people with disabilities. "These investments will help hundreds of thousands of Americans finally obtain the long-term services and support they need, while creating new jobs and offering caregiving workers a long-overdue raise, stronger benefits, and an opportunity to organize or join a union and collectively bargain."

Christi Grimm, HHS OIG Principal Deputy Inspector General, gave a recent keynote address wherein she highlighted 10 key compliance priorities that will drive much of OIG's work in the coming year and beyond: (1) Overseeing COVID-19 Relief and Response; (2) Realizing the Potential of Telehealth; (3) Ensuring Quality of Care and Patient Safety in Nursing Homes; (4) Advancing Health Equities; (5) Modernizing Program Integrity and Compliance Information; (6) Combating the Substance Use Disorder Epidemic; (7) Prioritizing Cybersecurity; (8) Information Blocking Enforcement; (9) Implementing Value-Based Care; and (10) Strengthening Managed Care Program Integrity. (King & Spalding Health Headlines: https://kslawemail.com/128/7829/pages/art2.asp?sid=102b39f3-70d2-4926-b432-17ab61b7cf24)

CMS has issued a proposed rule for inpatient and long-term care hospitals, including funding medical residency positions in hospitals in rural and underserved communities to address workforce shortages. CMS is proposing to distribute 1,000 additional physician residency slots to qualifying hospitals, phasing in 200 slots per year over five years. (https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2021/04/27/cms-proposes-enhance-medical-workforce-rural-underserved-communities.html)

CMS has adopted new provisions to lower maximum out-of-pocket costs to consumers by $400, "while increasing competition and improving the consumer experience for millions of Americans who will rely on the Federal Health Insurance Marketplaces in plan year 2022." (https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-adopt-rules-lower-health-care-costs-2022-federal-health-insurance-marketplace-plans)

On April 29, CMS issued a final rule extending the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) bundled-payment model for an additional three performance years - through December 31, 2024. The Final Rule also makes a number of changes to the program moving forward, including broadening the scope of a CJR episode to include lower extremity joint replacement procedures performed in the hospital outpatient department setting. (King & Spalding Health Headlines: https://kslawemail.com/128/7861/pages/article-2.asp?sid=d2d8a24b-5af4-46a2-900d-3083858c194c)

The FDA announced it's committing to advancing two tobacco product standards to significantly reduce disease and death from using combusted tobacco products, the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. The FDA is working toward issuing proposed product standards within the next year to ban menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and ban all characterizing flavors in cigars. If implemented, the FDA's enforcement of any ban on menthol cigarettes and all flavored cigars will only address manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, importers and retailers. The FDA cannot and will not enforce against individual consumer possession or use of menthol cigarettes or any tobacco product. (https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-commits-evidence-based-actions-aimed-saving-lives-and-preventing-future-generations-smokers)

The FDA is preparing to authorize use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in adolescents 12 to 15 years old by early next week, according to federal officials familiar with the agency's plans, opening up the U.S. vaccination campaign to millions more people . . . The clearance, in the form of an amendment to the existing emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine, could come as early as late this week. If it is granted, the CDC's vaccine advisory panel is likely to meet the following day to review the clinical trial data and make recommendations for the vaccine's use in adolescents. (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/us/politics/coronavirus-vaccine-teenagers.html)
Meanwhile, Covid 'Doesn't Discriminate By Age': Serious Cases On The Rise In Younger Adults: After spending much of the past year tending to elderly patients, doctors are seeing a clear demographic shift: young and middle-aged adults make up a growing share of the patients in covid-19 hospital wards. It's both a sign of the country's success in protecting the elderly through vaccination and an urgent reminder that younger generations will pay a heavy price if the outbreak is allowed to simmer in communities across the country. (https://khn.org/news/article/covid-cases-hospitalizations-rise-in-younger-adults/)

Missed checkups and physicals. Delayed mammograms and colonoscopies. Many Americans postponed medical appointments for a year during the pandemic and the impact is just beginning to surface, doctors say. A pandemic-induced delay in screenings could lead to 10,000 breast and colorectal cancer deaths over the next decade, researchers estimate. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-consequences-of-skipping-doctor-appointments-during-the-covid-pandemic-11620067142?mod=hp_lead_pos12)

The next generation of Covid-19 vaccines in development could come as a pill or a nasal spray and be easier to store and transport than the current handful of shots that form the backbone of the world-wide vaccination effort. These newer vaccines, from U.S. government labs and companies including Sanofi SA, Altimmune Inc. and Gritstone Oncology Inc., also have the potential to provide longer-lasting immune responses and be more potent against newer and multiple viral variants, possibly helping to head off future pandemics, the companies say. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/next-generation-of-covid-19-vaccines-could-be-pill-or-spray-11620034381?mod=hp_lead_pos7)

The University of California and California State University have announced that they will require COVID-19 vaccinations for all students, faculty and staff on campus properties this fall once the FDA gives formal approval to the vaccines and supplies are sufficiently available. The directive is the largest of its kind in U.S. higher education, affecting more than 1 million members of the two public university systems. It would allow for students or employees to seek an exemption based on medical or religious grounds. (https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-22/uc-csu-to-require-covid-19-vaccinations-this-fall ) Also, Chapman University said it will require students, faculty and staff coming to campus in the fall to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. (https://www.ocbj.com/news/2021/may/03/covid-19-oc-business-updates/)

Births for all of 2020 were down 4.3% from 2019. Births in December 2020 and in January and February 2021 - nine months or more after the spring 2020 lockdowns - were down 6.5%, 9.3%, and 10%, respectively, compared with the same months a year earlier. (Modern Healthcare Covid-19 Coverage, 4/29/21)

Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, told shareholders his company's failed healthcare venture with JPMorgan Chase and Amazon could not overcome the high cost of care in the U.S., according to Yahoo Finance. "We learned a lot about the difficulty of changing around an industry that's 17% of GDP," Mr. Buffett said. "We were fighting a tapeworm in the American economy, and the tapeworm won." Although Haven dissolved in February, Mr. Buffett said he didn't see the venture as a total loss. Focusing on healthcare costs helped his company identify inefficiencies and save money internally, he said. (https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-administration/buffett-on-failed-haven-venture-the-tapeworm-won.html)

Digital-health startups have boomed during the pandemic, raising record amounts of capital ($7 billion in the 1Q21) for a range of services. And corporate-benefits executives, the main customers for these startups, say they are excited about technology that can lower costs and improve employees' health. But they also say the explosion of activity has spawned a glut of startups pitching redundant or overpriced services, and there's no way to assess "literally thousands" of digital-health services now available. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/digital-health-startups-are-booming-their-customers-are-overwhelmed-11620039601?mod=hp_lista_pos4)

MD Ally, a startup that triages 911 calls and reroutes non-emergency calls to telehealth medical services, has just closed $3.5 million in seed funding led by Hemant Teneja at General Catalyst, along with Tuoyo Louis of Seae Ventures. The company formerly raised $1 million in financing last March. (https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/28/md-ally-connects-telehealth-alternatives-right-into-911-calls/)

In a recent TechCrunch article, authors David Jegen and Carl Byers ask: "Why can we see all our bank, credit card and brokerage data on our phones instantaneously in one app, yet walk into a doctor's office blind to our healthcare records, diagnoses and prescriptions? Our health status should be as accessible as our checking account balance . . . The liberation of financial data is beginning to happen with healthcare data, which will have an even more profound impact on society; it will save and extend lives. This accessibility is quickly approaching." (https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/29/healthcare-is-the-next-wave-of-data-liberation/)

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