Category: news

Under multi-year agreement, 1.5 million associates and their dependents will have access to facilities and resources to improve their health.
NASHVILLE, Tenn./PRNewswire—Tivity Health^® (NASDAQ: TVTY) is now offering its Prime^® Fitness program, which helps individuals improve their health through physical fitness, to Walmart’s 1.5 million associates and their dependents across the United States. The offering for Walmart associates, the Walton Life Fitness Pass, will remove barriers to fitness with access to more than 9,000 fitness locations nationwide starting as low as $9 per paycheck.

Dayton, OH—CSafe Global, the innovation leader in active temperature-controlled container solutions for the transport of life-enhancing pharmaceuticals, hosted customers and employees at the grand opening of a 31,000 square-foot service center facility in San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU). Nearly three times larger than the previous facility, the new service center will accommodate the ongoing demand for CSafe’s specialized air cargo containers for pharmaceutical shipments to more than 100 countries.
CSafe has been part of the San Juan community since 2014 when a local partner began warehousing these temperature-controlled containers. In 2016, the company decided to invest in its own facility and moved in to the 12,000 square-foot space in April of that year. The company has grown exponentially in the last three years putting significant demand on the SJU service center, and the company once again decided to invest in a larger, more streamlined operational facility where the CSafe team could better serve customers.
“We’re thrilled to continue growing in San Juan and are excited to see the new opportunities we’ll have to improve efficiency and expand the business even further. As with all of our service centers, this new facility will ensure our RKN and RAP containers operate at top system performance, keep temperatures precisely where they need to be for our customers’ life-saving cargo,” said Tom Weir, VP of Global Operations at CSafe Global.
In addition to the grand opening event, interim CEO, Patrick Schafer also announced that the company will make a significant donation to a local charitable organization to assist in efforts to support local residents displaced by the ongoing devastating earthquakes. This is not the first time CSafe has stepped up to help in the area. Following Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the company chartered several cargo planes and an Antonov to deliver extra containers to the island to ensure life-saving medicines reached their destinations. CSafe also moved employees and their families into safe housing for several months while homes were repaired.
“CSafe is committed to customers, employees and to the communities where we operate,” said Schafer. “Our mission is to provide peace of mind and helping our neighbors in times of need is absolutely essential in that effort. I can only hope that what we’ve have provided will offer some comfort to residents during this challenging time.”
CSafe service centers put all RKN and RAP systems through an industry-unique Preventative Maintenance Rebuild (PMR) program to certify optimal operational performance. This protocol goes a long way in providing peace of mind to CSafe customers, while delivering on the CSafe promise to protect what matters most to pharmaceutical companies, so patients can receive what matters most to them.

NASHVILLE, TN—Clearwater today announced the addition of Risk Response Optimizer to the latest release of IRM|Analysis™, the Enterprise Cyber Risk Management Software (ECRMS) product specifically designed to help healthcare organizations identify, prioritize, and respond to risks on an enterprise scale, in accordance with the guidance and expectations of the Office for Civil Rights. The new feature is the latest innovation Clearwater has developed to enable hospitals and health systems and their business associates to identify and respond to risks and manage them more efficiently.
IRM|Analysis facilitates a consistent, information system-focused risk analysis, and as a result, provides information that is critical in driving effective risk management decision making. The software’s proprietary algorithms not only pinpoint an organization’s most highly-rated risks to its information systems, but through Risk Response Optimizer, will also characterize the most common control deficiencies contributing to those risks.
For resource-constrained hospitals and health systems that may be challenged to implement safeguards against cyberattacks that are growing in number and sophistication, Clearwater’s IRM|Analysis can improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of information security teams.
“As a SaaS-based product that allows healthcare organizations to effectively manage a constantly evolving risk landscape, IRM|Analysis drives informed security investment decisions, direct cost savings and value creation that is measurable and material,” said Clearwater CEO Steve Cagle. “From senior management to IT staff managing risk management tasks on a daily basis, the software streamlines and focuses resources and investments, enabling proactive and preventative cybersecurity programs with an attractive return on investment.”
The addition of Risk Response Optimizer follows the introduction of Component Expert System last year, another powerful feature embedded within IRM|Analysis that enables hospitals and health systems to complete the security risk analysis and risk management processes more efficiently across the enterprise by logically grouping similar information system components based on their properties and associated controls. The technology, for which Clearwater was awarded a patent in December, automatically identifies relevant risk scenarios, thereby facilitating a more efficient risk assessment and management process.
Clearwater’s consistent delivery of innovative solutions has enabled the company to earn the #1 rating for Risk Management and Compliance in Black Book Research’s survey of healthcare providers the past three years in a row.

NASHVILLE, Tenn./PRNewswire—Nutrisystem^® and South Beach Diet^®, both products of Tivity Health^®, announced today that the two brands have been recognized in the U.S. News & World Report Best Diet Rankings for 2020.
“Both Nutrisystem and South Beach Diet are leaders in the weight loss industry,” said Keira Krausz, Nutrition Business Unit President, Tivity Health. “For nearly 50 years, Nutrisystem has been committed to helping millions of people adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Our research-supported, easy-to-follow programs provide nutritionally balanced and delicious foods to set consumers up for success on the journey to becoming their best selves.”
Both Nutrisystem and the South Beach Diet broke through the top 10 Best Commercial Diets and rose in the ranks for Best Diets for Healthy Eating, while South Beach Diet also received recognition for its heart-healthy approach as a Best Heart-Healthy Diet.
New in 2020 are personal plans from Nutrisystem and The New Keto-Friendly South Beach Diet program. Nutrisystem’s personal plans are triple matched to reflect individual body type, food preferences and goals, and deliver safe and effective weight loss of up to 18 pounds in the first two months. Studies show that a personalized approach to weight loss, compared to a “one-size-fits-all” approach, has been associated with better and more sustained adherence.
The New Keto-Friendly South Beach Diet program is designed to be a low-carb, high-fat dietary approach consistent with a “keto” diet. The new program reinforces the basic principles of the keto approach while adding enhancements that make it more convenient and more sustainable over time, and is based on the publication of The New Keto-Friendly South Beach Diet by Dr. Arthur Agatston, the world-renowned cardiologist who created the original best-selling South Beach Diet in 2003. The new book, out December 31, 2019, updates the original program with the latest weight loss science.
Both brands offer safe, effective, and science-backed weight-loss plans, with a distinguished Science Advisory Board and strong clinical studies. All plans include comprehensive support and counseling options from trained weight-loss coaches, registered dietitians and certified diabetes educators available seven days a week from the brands’ award-winning contact center, free digital apps that complement both brands, and select products available at retail.

NASHVILLE, Tenn./PRNewswire—Tivity Health, Inc. (Nasdaq: TVTY), a leading provider of nutrition, fitness and social engagement solutions, announces the launch of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The role of the Tivity Health SAB is to review and advise on product strategy and new product concepts to provide an objective, external perspective in the context of proven evidence, emerging research, and trends in nutrition, exercise and social sciences.
The Tivity Health SAB is comprised of eight experts in the fields of nutrition, obesity and weight loss, fitness and exercise, aging, social health, and precision medicine. Its members include former Nutrisystem SAB members Arthur Agatston, M.D.; Caroline Apovian, M.D., FACN, FACP, FTOS; Ted Kyle, RPh, MBA; and Jay Satz, Ph.D. who are joined by new board members Evan Forman, Ph.D.; Sandro Galea, M.D., MPH, DrPH; Chris Mason, Ph.D.; and Christine Rosenbloom, Ph.D., RDN, FAND.
“We are excited to announce the new Tivity Health Scientific Advisory Board, and we are grateful for their commitment to the Tivity Health mission,” said Donato Tramuto, Chief Executive Officer, Tivity Health. “These distinguished professionals help us evolve our products and ensure that we are delivering highly impactful solutions to improve the health and vitality of our members and customers.”
Tivity Health is actively addressing the social determinants of health, (SDOH) defined by the World Health Organization as the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. With its family of healthy life-changing solutions, Tivity Health’s goal is to transform the aging experience and reduce factors that lead to serious health issues and high medical costs; including chronic conditions, obesity, inactivity, social isolation, and loneliness.
The Tivity Health SAB will ensure product strategies and solutions to impact SDOH are supported by scientific evidence. They will also advise the company’s research strategy and approaches to test and optimize product effectiveness and value.
The former Nutrisystem SAB was instrumental in the success of programs and products such as Turbo10, Lean13, Turbo13, and DNA Body Blueprint, as well as the development of the South Beach Diet program.
The new Tivity Health SAB has the expertise to ensure a strong scientific foundation for effective, differentiated products for healthy living and aging across all Tivity Health brands including SilverSneakers, Nutrisystem, South Beach Diet, and the recently announced Wisely Well, a new meal delivery program that will offer fully prepared meals to meet the dietary needs of older adults.

Dayton, OH—CSafe Global, the innovation leader in temperature-controlled packaging solutions, announces today that Emilio Frattaruolo has been appointed to a newly-created role of Vice President of Innovation, Passive Systems.
Mr. Frattaruolo brings over a decade of experience with previous roles in engineering and operational leadership for both Pharmaceutical manufacturers and Cold Chain solution providers. With his unique industry perspective, Mr. Frattaruolo is responsible for leading the growth of the CSafe passive product line, developing and maintaining the product roadmap, and ultimately aligning the business to meet Pharmaceutical cold chain shipment needs. Mr. Frattaruolo will be dedicated to driving R&D initiatives for product innovation to support this long-term global expansion strategy. He is also responsible for expanding CSafe’s presence in the emerging Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) market.
“I am pleased to welcome Emilio Frattaruolo to the CSafe Global team,” states Patrick Schafer, CSafe Global CEO, “He brings a multitude of engineering and operational management experience to our leadership team. His deep understanding of the clinical and commercial cold chain distribution process will be a great asset to CSafe.”
“I look forward to the exciting opportunity of leading the Passive Systems business for CSafe,” cites Emilio. “The team at CSafe has developed best-in-class solutions for the ever-evolving and increasingly demanding requirements that today’s global supply chain present to our customers. We are highly motivated to ensure our clients are able to distribute their life saving therapies to an ever-expanding global patient population.”

New York, NY—Altaris Capital Partners, LLC (“Altaris”) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire substantially all of the drug delivery business of 3M (NYSE: MMM) for total consideration equal to $650 million.
The business, headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, is a global leader in drug delivery that partners with pharmaceutical and biotech companies to develop and manufacture pharmaceutical products using its unique inhalation, transdermal, microneedle, or conventional drug delivery technologies. As part of the transaction, 3M will retain a minority interest in the business alongside Altaris.
“We are excited to be partnering with 3M and the drug delivery team to support the future growth of the company,” said George Aitken-Davies, Managing Director of Altaris. “We believe the business is well positioned to build on its successful track record as a leading provider of drug delivery technologies.”
The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the first half of 2020.
Schiff Hardin acted as legal counsel to Altaris.

NASHVILLE, Tenn./PRNewswire—Tivity Health^®, Inc. (Nasdaq: TVTY), a leading provider of nutrition, fitness and social engagement solutions, announced today its organizational structure for the Nutrition Business Unit. Keira Krausz, President, Nutrition Business Unit, will continue to lead the Nutrition division, focused on growing the Nutrisystem^® and South Beach Diet^® programs for 2020. Krausz was the Chief Marketing Officer of Nutrisystem from 2013 to 2019 and was part of the leadership team who drove the growth and turnaround of the company.
Krausz is supported by a tenured leadership team, including David Burton, Chief Operating Officer, Nutrition Business Unit, who has been working in operations and product development for Nutrisystem for more than a decade; Steve Mikulak, Senior Vice President, Marketing, a seasoned marketing and five-year Nutrisystem veteran who is credited with driving digital growth and revenue per customer; and Bill MacBride, Senior Vice President, Contact Center, who has led the award-winning call center operations for Nutrisystem for the past ten years.
“One year ago today, we announced our acquisition of Nutrisystem, and with it our vision to transform the company to focus on improving health and well-being through fitness, nutrition and social engagement solutions,” said Donato Tramuto, CEO of Tivity Health. “We are firmly committed to our OE strategy for nutrition – to optimize our core business to support 2020 growth and expand to launch new revenue channels to diversify the nutrition business unit to recognize the potential of our combined organization. Nutrition Business Unit President Keira Krausz is a proven leader committed to aggressively pursuing our mission and growth opportunities. She will now report to me, and I am confident that with her leadership, we will quickly return our profitable nutrition business to growth and ensure positive momentum in 2020.”
Krausz became President of the Nutrition Business Unit in March 2019, after the acquisition of Nutrisystem by Tivity Health. Krausz is a proven direct-to-consumer, data-driven, and digital marketer. While she was CMO of Nutrisystem, overseeing all aspects of sales and marketing, revenue grew by over 90% and EBITDA more than tripled. Under her leadership, Nutrisystem, Inc. revamped its ecommerce team, built a customer experience and retention team that increased revenue per customer by nearly 30%, revitalized creative and media, and introduced and grew the South Beach Diet program.
For 2020, the Nutrition Business Unit is executing against its previously announced “optimization” strategy by introducing science-backed, effective program innovation, evolving creative to increase brand appeal and response, and significantly expanding its digital reach.
“Our 2020 program for Nutrisystem is our most innovative and on-trend in the past six years,” said Krausz. “We returned to best practices for development and in-market testing, are introducing dozens of new foods, have seen positive results for our new creative, and are on track with our media expansion. We’re also excited to re-launch the new keto-friendly South Beach Diet with fully-integrated brand, direct response, and PR efforts. The Nutrition Business Unit is well-positioned to execute on Donato’s vision, return our brands to growth and deliver shareholder value in 2020.”

Dayton, OH—CSafe Global announces the opening of a new service center in Memphis to enhance support and service levels for the growing demand for CSafe containers from life-science customers and partners transporting temperature-sensitive healthcare products from the Mid-South region of the US.
CSafe Global, the innovation leader in active temperature-controlled container solutions for the transport of life-enhancing pharmaceuticals, is pleased to announce the opening of a new technical service center at the Memphis International Airport (MEM).
The new MEM station is now operational, servicing inbound and outbound traffic of the company’s innovative CSafe RKN and CSafe RAP active container systems. Multiple technical professionals have already been deployed to the new service facility to meet the increasing demand for CSafe containers across the region, and to provide best-in-class maintenance, calibration services, and technical support for the large fleet of active systems.
“Continuing CSafe’s passion and commitment to best serve our customers, the new MEM service center is among an expanding roster of worldwide facilities dedicated to providing high quality technical support and effortless customer interaction to meet the ever-increasing demand for our active containers.” states Tom Weir, VP of Global Operations for CSafe Global. “We are certainly proud of the new site and our ability — to keep temperatures precisely where they need to be — for shipments of life-saving pharmaceutical products.”
To verify CSafe RKN and CSafe RAP systems are of highest quality and in peak condition, all containers entering CSafe service centers are put through an industry-unique Preventative Maintenance Rebuild (PMR) program to certify optimal operational performance. This goes a long way in providing customer peace of mind, while delivering on CSafe’s promise to protect what matters most to pharmaceutical companies, so patients can receive what matters most to them.

The Clear Advantage Program for Business Associates Provides Customers with Expert Guidance and Purpose-Built Software Tools to Protect Patient Data.
NASHVILLE, TN—Clearwater today announced The Clear Advantage Program for Business Associates, a special offering from the healthcare cybersecurity solutions provider, enabling its customers to implement and mature a best-in-class cyber risk management and HIPAA compliance program. Clearwater developed The Clear Advantage Program for Business Associates in recognition of the need for the partner organizations that interact with the electronic protected health information (ePHI) maintained by healthcare providers to strengthen their ability to keep the information secure.
The spotlight recently shone bright on just how important such programs are to companies deemed “business associates” under the federal HIPAA law when news surfaced of the Google- Ascension Health collaboration dubbed “Project Nightingale”. When health systems and providers work with technology and other vendor partners, the first thing they want to know is what those partners are doing to protect the exchange of personal health data.
“Business Associates, as they are classified under HIPAA, play a vital role in the U.S. healthcare system, providing innovative solutions that advance the way care is accessed, delivered, managed, and paid for,” said Clearwater CEO Steve Cagle. “Through The Clear Advantage Program, we are helping ensure that concerns over the security of new solutions don’t stifle innovation. Our best-in-class offering provides a distinct competitive advantage to our customers, broadening their value propositions by instilling trust with existing and prospective partners and demonstrating they’re serious about being good stewards of patient information.”
Cyber attacks, projected to cost the U.S. economy more than $2 trillion in 2019 alone, have hit the healthcare industry especially hard over the past several years due to the increasing availability and high value of healthcare data. In addition to costs incurred from breach-related lawsuits, addressing vulnerabilities, and loss of patient trust, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has been actively issuing fines to organizations that have failed to take steps to prevent a breach. As providers are ultimately responsible for protecting patient data, they must ensure their partners’ information systems are adequately secured.
As the leading provider of enterprise cyber risk management software and consulting services for healthcare organizations, Clearwater drew on its intimate understanding of the information security needs and requirements of providers to develop The Clear Advantage Program for Business Associates. Uber Health is one of the non-health system customers to recognize the value of Clearwater’s expertise, engaging the company to help ensure its systems and infrastructure are secure and fully compliant with healthcare industry standards. Watch this video to see how Clearwater is helping Uber Health and another health tech innovator Digital Reasoning know and address their cybersecurity risks.
As an outgrowth of that work, Clearwater developed The Clear Advantage Program for Business Associates, which provides all the elements entities that serve provider organizations need to build and mature a strong cyber risk management and HIPAA compliance capability, including:

• Leadership from an experienced Virtual Chief Information Security Officer and/or Chief Privacy Officer where needed
• Subscription to Clearwater’s IRM|Pro^® Enterprise Cyber Risk Management Software
• Cyber risk management program development and governance
• HIPAA policy and procedure development and workforce training
• Annual security risk analyses and compliance assessments
• Ongoing compliance gap and risk remediation
• Quarterly vulnerability scans and monitoring
• Annual penetration testing
• Assistance responding to provider security assessments

To learn more about The Clear Advantage Program for Business Associates, visit www.clearwatercompliance.com/who-we-serve/business-associates/.