Articles

12.27.13

A New Golden Age of Content

Amidst the maelstrom of technology shattering decades-old media-centric business models -- a reality that continues to frighten many in its wake -- often lost is the fact that we are now in the midst of a new golden age of content. Yes, it's true. There has been too much doom and gloom, and not ...


12.16.13

CARB Approves Another Round of Cap and Trade Amendments

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has held its most important meetings related to the Cap and Trade Regulation (Regulation) annually in October over the last few years, and 2013 was no exception. On October 25, CARB staff presented to the Board both retroactive and proactive ...


12.16.13

What Makes a Successful Public-Private Partnership?

If you've been through Los Angeles International Airport recently, you will have noticed that it is undergoing a major overhaul. To transform LAX, the sixth-busiest airport in the world, into a leading world-class airport, Los Angeles World Airports launched a multibillion-dollar airport ...


12.12.13

Collaborative Care Before Accountable Care: Achieving Low-Cost, High-Quality Care Through a ...

In this era of healthcare reform which is focused on cost containment and quality improvement, health systems are struggling to provide the right balance between quality and cost-efficient services. At the same time, advancements in biomedical knowledge and technological innovation are changing ...


12.04.13

Hold Your Bets: Third Circuit Rejects Sports Betting Law

The four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA (the leagues) scored a significant victory in September in their ongoing lawsuit to prevent legalized gambling in the state of New Jersey. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a district court ruling ...


11.25.13

Specialty Pharmaceuticals

Specialty pharmaceuticals are a rapidly growing share of total drug expenditures by public and private health plans. These drugs, typically used to treat chronic, serious, or life-threatening conditions, such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, growth hormone deficiency, and multiple sclerosis, are ...


11.21.13

When Nonprofits Run Aground

Special considerations come into play when nonprofit organizations want or need to engage in real estate transactions. With very few exceptions, nonprofits have a focus on something entirely unrelated to real property. Whether their mission is educational in nature, is health related, is directed ...


11.15.13

Zero Net Energy In High Rise, Lofty Goal?

Let's start with the premise that according to the U.S. Department of Energy, commercial buildings account for 35% of US (and 40% of Global) electricity consumption.  Then, add on a regulatory structure in which the President is calling for a 20% reduction in energy consumption and a state ...


11.12.13

Planning California's Clean Electric Power Future

Over the next several years, California's power system will undergo major changes. As renewable portfolio standards (RPS) increase, larger quantities of renewable generation resources will be required. Simultaneously, the unplanned retirement of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station ...


11.01.13

Meaningful Physician Payment Reform in Oncology

Cancer care suffers from many of the well-known flaws in the American health care delivery system. Most of the care delivery shortfalls and inefficiencies can be tied, in part, back to payment systems that support high-cost procedures rather than focusing on assisting providers in improving the ...