All Posts By

Kevin Roche

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 through Roche Consulting, LLC. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements and may be reached at khroche@healthy-skeptic.com.

Sep 28 2015

Another one of the health plan co-ops created by the reform law bites the dust, as New York regulators close down Health Republic Insurance for insolvency.  How's that "these co-ops will provide inexpensive competition to the big guys" rationale working out?  And how should taxpayers feel as their tax dollars circle the drain when these co-ops don't repay their loans, which by the way totaled $265 million for Health Republic.

http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/press/pr1509251.htm
Sep 28 2015

HealthPort, a revenue cycle management vendor owned by New Mountain Capital, is acquiring ECS, a medical record retrieval company.

http://www.chartfinder.com/announcements/new-mountain-capital-and-healthport-iod-announce-the-acquisition-of-ecs
Sep 25 2015

A blog post in Health Affairs underscores that individual practice variation across physicians may be the most basic unit of health care utilization and cost variation.  This variation is likely driven both by physician practice styles and preferences and patient preferences.

http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2015/09/23/physician-level-practice-variation-who-you-see-is-what-you-get/
Sep 24 2015

Someone needs to explain health insurance to Hillary Clinton.  In a supposed effort to help middle-income voters, er, I mean people, she proposes to limit copays on doctor visits.  All this will do is drive up insurance premiums and increase consumer premium cost-sharing.  There is no free ride.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/hillary-clinton-health-care-affordability-plan-213982
Sep 24 2015

The global health care analytics market supposedly will be worth over $18 billion by 2020, according to a report from Markets and Markets.

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/healthcare-data-analytics-market-905.html
Sep 24 2015

CliniCloud, which wants to bring connected devices like stethoscopes and thermometers to the home, has raised $5 million in funding.

https://www.pehub.com/2015/09/tencent-and-ping-an-ventures-leads-5-mln-round-for-clinicloud/
Sep 23 2015

Phynd Technology  phynds $1.1 million from investors for its hospital software to create a single provider profile.

https://www.pehub.com/2015/09/phynd-tech-raises-1-1-mln/
Sep 23 2015

Atigeo, a "big data" company that has offerings for health care companies, has raised $18.4 million from investors, including provider system Ascension Health's venture arm, and has issued the biggest load of pompous, self-serving s**t I have ever seen in a press release, referring to itself as a "compassionate technology company for a wiser planet".  How bout you make a product that actually delivers value to customers and provides a return for investors.

https://www.pehub.com/2015/09/atigeo-raises-18-4-mln/
Sep 23 2015

A Commonwealth Fund blog post suggests that increasing the differential between younger and older adults' premiums under the reform law would end up costing the government more in higher subsidies, but gives no alternative solution for the very unfair situation of charging relatively healthy young people excessive premiums to pay for older adults health care.

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/blog/2015/sept/charging-older-adults-higher-premiums-could-cost-taxpayers
Sep 23 2015

A study in Health Affairs finds, shockingly, that long-term care hospitals time discharges to maximize reimbursement.  Just amazing that a provider would follow an incentive to get the highest payment.

http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/34/6/907.abstract
Sep 23 2015

Institute of Medicine Report on Diagnosis Quality

http://iom.nationalacademies.org/Reports/2015/Improving-Diagnosis-in-Healthcare.aspx