Telehealth is hot and telemedicine vendor MDLive has secured $50 million in new capital, including from two large health plan companies.
https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payer/cigna-hcsc-mdlive-richard-berner-funding-round-telehealth-investment?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWm1VeU9UbGpOR016TXpNeSIsInQiOiJmMjZPdWIrbk1DQWtXYUJudWhtRkpoalwvRURuWXVZR1hlVnl1Tkh5SEhGU3BoUno3XC9XOFwvTXNtY0NiUmFXVkdqZ0ZlYmF4Qnc5dnUyb29mMEJhNGdWTzJReXpmclpaR1VHTDJwM0x3VTUxNk1yM1NDNXpIRUZtOWxyUDlsNGZDUCJ9&mrkid=635530Verana Health, which gathers clinical data for drug and device companies to use in product development with an initial focus on ophthalmology, has raised $30 million in additional capital.
https://medcitynews.com/2018/07/verana-health-raises-30-million-series-c-round-appoints-new-ceo/?utm_campaign=MCN%20Daily%20Top%20Stories&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=64886494&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_hVbB_iSlpy9DMMUG73_lWCrhVYuUPYS7HuxND2b0h1JW0Adtxsl_ljT335037GtG-ALMyDSTbZAHkpRpeychBKFVAok66toqkZ8rC58N4OKVbOBw&_hsmi=64886494&rf=1Patient Wisdom gets $1 million in new financing to support its patient engagement programs.
https://medcitynews.com/2018/07/patientwisdom-1m/?utm_campaign=MCN%20Daily%20Top%20Stories&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=64886494&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_hVbB_iSlpy9DMMUG73_lWCrhVYuUPYS7HuxND2b0h1JW0Adtxsl_ljT335037GtG-ALMyDSTbZAHkpRpeychBKFVAok66toqkZ8rC58N4OKVbOBw&_hsmi=64886494&rf=1A paper at the National Bureau of Economic Research further supports the idea that malpractice fears and the defensive medicine that accompanies those fears, drive up health spending.
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NEJM carries an evaluation of Medicare's bundled payment project, which shows little impact on much of anything.
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Health Gorilla, which is creating a nationwide clinical information sharing network, isn't monkeying around as it apes the SureScript capability, raising $8.2 million.
https://www.pr.com/press-release/757601?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal&mrkid=635530&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWW1Oak9USTNNak00WldZMSIsInQiOiJJYjBlMVdRSFBSTUNlc0w1ckRyZVdKUVk2c01rMVZMNmtSYzYwcEFKbExDaldwRGlNRzVkYWJ1SmN4NWFYR3NcL2NIejhUUWRTR2JHUzdFSGNKckZIeG5XKytjQWpLSUZaRm5OR21id1E1TUxmMGNCS1JRVXRabFo5aGdyeUNuc0YifQ%3D%3DA study carried in JAMA discusses trends in end-of-life care for Medicare beneficiaries.
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The latest Altarum report discusses trends in spending by payer type over the last few years.
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HealthCrowd secures $7 million in fresh financing for its communications as a service platform, which helps health plans and providers engage patients or something like that.
https://www.prweb.com/releases/healthcrowd_lands_7_million_in_growth_equity_to_become_the_de_facto_healthcare_communications_platform/prweb15648476.htmAdjusting Medicare Advantage stars ratings for socioeconomic factors would change plan rankings, according to a Health Affairs article.
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After just raising over $290 million, telehealth vendor American Well adds another $75 million in capital and announces deals with Samsung and Anthem. Given the astonishing amount of total capital that has gone into the firm, there is no way new investors get a decent return.
https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2018/07/19/american-well-discloses-75m-investment-as-it.htmlAbout this Blog
The Healthy Skeptic is a website about the health care system, and is written by Kevin Roche, who has many years of experience working in the health industry. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements through Roche Consulting, LLC and may be reached at khroche@healthy-skeptic.com.