A new survey by Cheaphotels.org lists Nashville as the most expensive city in the U.S. for hotel rates.

Only centrally located hotels rated 3 stars or more were considered for the survey.

The study compared hotels of 50 urban destinations. For each destination, the average rate for the least expensive double room during October 2019 was established. October is the month in which hotel rates in U.S. cities tend to be at their highest.

Nashville’s average price for the most affordable room is listed as $223.

Only slightly more affordable is Boston, where the average rate came out as $221 per night, followed by San Jose $214, San Francisco $209, Albuquerque $198, New York $196, Austin $189, Los Angeles $186, Dallas $185 and Detroit $185.

The cheapest destination is Las Vegas, where an overnight visitor is likely to find a room for around $70 per night. Also affordable are San Antonio, Baltimore and Fresno, all of which have average hotel rates below $100 per night.

Magazine ranks Nashville No. 8 for retirees

Nashville is the eighth-best place to retire in the nation, a new U.S. News & World Report ranking reports.

The publication’s “2020 Best Places to Retire in the United States’’ evaluated 125 of the country’s largest metropolitan areas, selecting the places based on how well they meet Americans’ expectations for retirement, with measures including housing affordability, desirability, health care and overall happiness.

The rankings are No. 1 Fort Myers, No. 2 Sarasota, No. 3 Lancaster, Pennsylvania, No. 4 Asheville, North Carolina, No. 5 Port St. Lucie, Florida, No. 6 Jacksonville, No. 7 Winston-Salem, No. 8 Nashville, No. 9, Grand Rapids, Michigan, No. 10 Dallas-Fort Worth.

Fort Myers tops the list due to increases in desirability, health care quality, job market strength and happiness. Sarasota jumps from No. 3 to No. 2 this year, due to increases in desirability, health care and job market scores, despite falling in the areas of happiness and housing affordability.

Middle Tennessee counties earn development grants

The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development has announced the Middle Tennessee counties being awarded ThreeStar grants for community development initiatives.

In total, TNECD is awarding $2.4 million in funding to Tennessee communities through this round of the grant program.

Initiatives focus on education, workforce development, health, entrepreneurship and economic development programs, among others that are prioritized by the communities.

These Midstate counties received funding: Bedford: 30,000, Bledsoe: $50,000, Cumberland: $50,000, DeKalb: $50,000, Dickson: $50,000, Giles: $50,000, Grundy: $50,000, Henry: $50,000, Hickman: $40,000, Humphreys: $50,000, Jackson: $50,000, Lewis: $20,000, Lincoln: $24,000, Marshall: $50,000, Montgomery: $25,000, Perry: $50,000, Pickett: $50,000, Robertson: $18,500, Smith: $50,000, Sumner: $50,000, Warren: $40,000, Wayne $50,000, Wilson: $40,250.

Rivertop Apartments acquired by San Francisco firm

Hamilton Zanze, a San Francisco real estate investment firm, has partnered with Cantor Fitzgerald to purchase Nashville’s Rivertop Apartments.

The transaction closed on Oct. 4, and property management responsibilities have been transferred to Mission Rock Residential.

Rivertop Apartments, located in West Nashville, are in close proximity to the Cumberland River and provide scenic views, access to walking trails, and options for outdoor recreation including kayaking, canoeing and fishing. The property is located at 5800 River Road.

The property was recently developed by Birmingham-based LIV Development and was completed in 2019.

The 224-unit luxury apartment community offers large one-, two-, and three-bedroom units ranging between 878 square feet and 1,418 square feet.

Thomas Nelson unveils new quarterly magazine

Nashville-based Thomas Nelson is launching a new, free publication, Jesus Calling Magazine, to be released on a quarterly basis.

The cover of the inaugural issue will feature author, actress, singer and philanthropist Kristin Chenoweth. The issue also includes interviews with inspiring people, including Southwest pilot and author Tammie Jo Shults, country music artist Aaron Watson and Emily Ley, author and CEO of the stationery company, Simplified by Emily Ley.

Each issue will feature inspirational stories from people of all walks of life, a nonprofit spotlight, a kid’s corner and more.

Themes in the first issue of the magazine center on finding joy as the holidays approach and cultivating hope, even in our hardest moments. There’s also a gift guide from popular lifestyle blogger and designer Liz Marie Galvan, and tips on finding happiness through journaling from “America’s pastor” and national bestselling author Max Lucado.

Electrical Contractors group creates Nashville chapter

Independent Electrical Contractors has launched its newest chapter in the Nashville area.

The organization is a nationally recognized trade association specializing in apprenticeship training.

Boasting an initial roster of nearly a dozen top contractor member companies and 65 first year apprentices from across the Nashville area, the Middle Tennessee IEC Chapter will continue the mission of the national organization by providing networking opportunities and fostering career and leadership development to members who work in and around the electrical industry.

Perry Patterson, Team Electrical Contracting, Inc., has been named president of the new chapter.

Founded in 1957 as the Associated Independent Electrical Contractors of America, the primary goal of the group was to consider and deal by all lawful means with common problems of management, distribution, employment, and financial functions of the electrical construction industry; to foster cooperative action in advancing the common purposes of its members; and promote activities that enable the industry to be conducted with the greatest economy and efficiency. IEC has grown to more than 2,400 contractor company members nationwide with 51 chapters.

The Middle Tennessee chapter is planning an inaugural kick-off event in early 2020 and for this first event you do not need to be a member to attend, though existing members can attend for free.

Contessa joins Prisma on Home Recovery Care model

Nashville-based Contessa will partner with Prisma Health on a care model called Home Recovery Care that keeps patients out of the hospital by bringing key elements of inpatient care directly into patients’ own homes.

Prisma Health is the largest not-for-profit health organization in South Carolina.

Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Hospital will be the first hospital in South Carolina to offer Home Recovery Care when it rolls out in early 2020.

Prisma Health Oconee Memorial Hospital and Prisma Health Baptist Easley Hospital will be the next ones to offer it. The long-term goal is to offer it to eligible patients at any Prisma Health hospital in South Carolina.

Home Recovery Care provides hospital-level care to patients with acute, nonlife-threatening medical conditions in the comfort of their own homes.

Roughly 150 diagnoses are considered eligible for the service and range from congestive heart failure and pneumonia to dehydration, cellulitis and urinary tract infections.

Patients must be evaluated by a Prisma Health doctor to determine if their conditions can be safely treated in the home instead of a standard hospital environment.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Prisma Health in their efforts to give patients more options about how and where they prefer to receive care,” says Travis Messina, chief executive officer of Contessa. “In markets similar to Prisma Health across the country, we’ve already seen how introducing Home Recovery Care can lead to major improvements in patient satisfaction, outcomes and cost of care. We look forward to achieving those same results across South Carolina.”

Change Healthcare AI added to CareSelect

Change Healthcare, headquartered in Nashville, has announced that its artificial intelligence technology has been added to the CareSelect Imaging decision support solution.

The new AI capabilities will help health care providers using leading electronic health record systems enhance workflow efficiency, improve patient safety, provide higher-value care and meet pending regulatory requirements.

CareSelect Imaging now uses Change Healthcare AI in EHR workflow to help physicians streamline imaging orders. In addition, it helps providers comply with new Protecting Access to Medicare Act requirements governing advanced imaging ordered under Medicare Part B.

Beginning Jan. 1, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services PAMA regulation requires physicians ordering advanced imaging exams for Medicare patients to consult Appropriate Use Criteria through a qualified electronic clinical decision support tool.

CareSelect Imaging is fully qualified by CMS to meet this requirement.

“We’re committed to optimizing clinical, administrative, and regulatory processes by infusing Change Healthcare AI into existing workflows across our large installed base of payers and providers,” says Nick Giannasi, Ph.D., executive vice president and chief AI officer for Change Healthcare.

“This is the latest example of our commitment, which, in the end, helps improve care quality, ensure regulatory compliance, and free providers to spend more time with patients and less with paperwork.”

VUMC receives FDA grant to research rare disease

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has awarded two new research grants for natural history studies in rare diseases, including a study at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The FDA is providing over $4.1 million over the next four years to fund these studies. Information from natural history studies can facilitate design of efficient clinical trials to test future treatments.

The grant to Vanderbilt goes to Jonathan Soslow for a prospective study in cardiac disease in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, approximately $2.4 million over four years.

This study aims to focus on cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease), which is the leading cause of death in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The study will combine genetic differences with imaging and blood biomarkers to identify surrogate biomarkers that predict the risk of cardiac dysfunction in Duchenne muscular dystrophy and other related diseases.

This information has the potential to improve future clinical trial efficiency in these diseases by decreasing their size and cost.

The FDA received 31 grant applications that were reviewed and evaluated for scientific and technical merit by more than 45 rare disease, natural history, regulatory and statistical experts, which included representatives from academia, patient groups, the National Institutes of Health and the FDA.

Natural history studies closely look at how specific diseases progress over time. The natural history of a disease is the course a disease takes from its onset, through the presymptomatic and clinical stages, to a final outcome in the absence of treatment.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center received the other grant.