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.

Dec 08 2015

MD Revolution gets $23 million in fresh capital as it ramps up its business of helping physicians maximize Medicare chronic disease management reimbursement.

http://medcitynews.com/2015/12/md-revolution-raises-23m-to-boost-staff-product-develoment/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=44060c4cee-MCN+Daily+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5092836c41-44060c4cee-408793005&rf=1
Dec 08 2015

Twine has strung together (or strung along) more investors and roped in an additional $6.7 million in capital to expand its health coaching business.

http://medcitynews.com/2015/12/patient-coaching-for-chronic-conditions/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=44060c4cee-MCN+Daily+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5092836c41-44060c4cee-408793005&rf=1
Dec 08 2015

Its private equity owner is selling home care firm American HomePatient to Lincare, which offers home respiratory therapy, for an undisclosed sum.

https://www.pehub.com/2015/12/highland-capital-to-sell-american-homepatient-to-lincare/
Dec 07 2015

Shortly after we learned that growth in health spending accelerated in 2014, the ECRI Institute says that new devices and drugs working their way to market in the near future will add $80 billion in annual spending.

https://www.ecri.org/press/Pages/ECRI-Institute-80-Billion-Annual-Spend-Drug-Device-Therapies.aspx?
Dec 04 2015

Contessa Health has raised $3.5 million in new capital to help its business of facilitating in-home "hospitalization".

https://www.pehub.com/2015/12/contessa-health-collects-3-5-mln-series-a/
Dec 04 2015

Population health manager WellTok has raised $45 million and has acquired Silverlink, which helps health plans communicate with their senior members.

http://medcitynews.com/2015/12/welltok-silverlink-raises-45m/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=448b4cd5eb-MCN+Daily+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5092836c41-448b4cd5eb-408793005
Dec 04 2015

GreatCall, which provides home technology for seniors, is acquiring Lively, a home health monitoring company.

http://medcitynews.com/2015/12/greatcall-acquires-lively-remote-monitoring-seniors/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=448b4cd5eb-MCN+Daily+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5092836c41-448b4cd5eb-408793005
Dec 04 2015

Kaiser Permanente, a large "non-profit" staff model health plan, is acquiring the Group Health Cooperative of Seattle for $1.8 billion.  

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20151204/NEWS/151209935?utm_source=modernhealthcare&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20151204-NEWS-151209935&utm_campaign=dose
Dec 04 2015

Large workers' comp vendor Genex Services has acquired medical bill review firm Alpha Review Corp.

http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20151201/NEWS08/151209980?tags=%7C70%7C74%7C285%7C304%7C92#utm_medium=email&utm_source=bi-workerscomp&utm_campaign=bi-workerscomp-20151203
Dec 03 2015

Evariant has raised $42.3 million to aid its business of helping health systems conduct digital marketing campaigns and engage patients.

http://medcitynews.com/2015/12/health-it-evariant/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=c0bdc550fe-MCN+Daily+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5092836c41-c0bdc550fe-408793005
Dec 03 2015

Once again people are shocked, just shocked, when the response to a government regulation is to try to minimize the consequences.  The Wall Street Journal finds a relationship between hospitals showing significant declines in readmissions and increased use of observation stays at those hospitals.  Guess what, readmissions are penalized but being "readmitted" for "observation" doesn't count.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/medicare-rules-reshape-hospital-admissions-1449024342