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.

Jun 16 2014

Research in the Quarterly Journal of Economics uses a large disenrollment from Tennessee's low-income health care coverage program to study the effects of basically free public health insurance on job seeking and employment.  Losing access to free coverage results in people looking for and finding more jobs, largely those with health care coverage.  Getting free coverage means fewer people will work, a consequence the CBO projects in regard to the reform law.  While some idiots decry the terrible problem of people having to work at jobs they don't like to keep health care coverage, we prefer to be concerned about the poor working saps who have to pay exorbitant tax rates to pay for slackers' health care, while their own health care costs skyrocket.

http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/129/2/653.abstract
Jun 16 2014

Chrono Therapeutics is receiving a $32 million investment for its wearable nicotine-replacement therapy for smoking cessation.

http://www.finsmes.com/2014/06/chrono-therapeutics-closes-32m-in-series-a-financing.html
Jun 16 2014

The use of administrative data, as opposed to chart review, to gather information on hospital readmissions, results in incorrect reasons for the readmission in about a third of cases, according to research in JAMA Surgery, which could seriously affect penalties levied on hospitals under the CMS program to reduce readmissions.

http://archsurg.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=1879843&utm_source=Silverchair%20Information%20Systems&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ArchivesofSurgery%3AOnlineFirst06%2F11%2F2014&utm_campaign=KHN%3A+Daily+Health+Policy+Report&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=13177961&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8sG6r4Nnjy-e8mks87DfEwo8tr35TLMGEXgl6jgnFuDaBUeZhFUYNaU2B-3FBJ27qRggrpfhg4l7FLl38FI8LYmPVWGg&_hsmi=13177961
Jun 16 2014

If you think that supposedly neutral information sites are in fact neutral, just look at this headline from the respectable Kaiser news site, which tries to put a positive spin on premium increase proposals for 2015 exchange rates, by saying they are less than 10% in California and only 8.25%, less than the rate of increase before reform, in Washington state.  Simply absurd to try to minimize the effects of these increases which are three times the rate of inflation or GDP growth and remember that the Administration promised us reform would lower premiums.

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2014/June/13/premium-costs.aspx?utm_campaign=KHN%3A+Daily+Health+Policy+Report&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=13177961&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_tAV77bWQ6LRmguzefvkyb3Tw1DkC_Y0tIq8fCTQhrmDe8mK3DbqY9C2e2t-Lz1aAxeDB4XDyRmK2m5fYy34d6b_9ZzQ&_hsmi=13177961
Jun 16 2014

Medtronic, one of the world's largest medical device makers, will get even bigger by buying Covidien for $42 billion.  Medtronic will also technically move its headquarters to Ireland, getting a large tax benefit.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20140615/NEWS/306139949&utm_source=AltURL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=am?AllowView=VXQ0UnpwZTVEUFdiL1IzSkUvSHRlRU92ams4ZEErSlU=&mh
Jun 13 2014

Intermedix, a vendor of revenue cycle management and administrative services,  has acquired the billing division of T-Systems, which provides billing services for ERs.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20140610/NEWS/306109939&utm_source=AltURL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hits?AllowView=VXQ0UnpwZTVEUFdlL1IzSkUvSHRlRU92amt3ZEErVlU=
Jun 13 2014

Putting a Patient Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment form in the patient's medical record seems to ensure that the patient's preferences about end-of-life care are respected.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/09/us-medical-record-polst-dying-idUSKBN0EK1S920140609
Jun 12 2014

Physician staffing company EmCare has paid $170 million for Phoenix Physicians, which provides similar services in Florida.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20140611/NEWS/306119957&utm_source=AltURL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mpdaily?AllowView=VXQ0UnpwZTVEUFdmL1IzSkUvSHRlRU92amswZEErTmE=
Jun 12 2014

Medocity received a $1.6 million investment to support its mobile app for cancer patients to track their health.

http://medcitynews.com/2014/06/weave-secures-5m-sync-doctors-patient-management-software-phone-service/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=22160c6cf9-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c05cce483a-22160c6cf9-67648197
Jun 12 2014

Weave has raised $5 million for a phone and text service that helps doctors track patient records and communicate with patients.

http://medcitynews.com/2014/06/weave-secures-5m-sync-doctors-patient-management-software-phone-service/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=22160c6cf9-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c05cce483a-22160c6cf9-67648197
Jun 12 2014

An Aon Hewitt survey of employers finds that around 70% intend to adopt reference pricing and that a large number plan to use "gating" strategies in the future to give employees richer benefit designs, but only if they take certain actions to ensure cost-effective care and healthy behaviors.  Per person pricing, reduced dependent subsidies and more use of health cost transparency tools are also growing strategies.

http://aon.mediaroom.com/2014-06-11-Aon-Hewitt-Survey-Shows-U-S-Employers-Interested-in-Exploring-Stricter-Rules-Around-Health-Benefits-and-Reference-Based-Pricing-as-Part-of-their-Health-Strategy
Jun 12 2014

Accenture says that over 3 million persons are getting health benefits arranged through private insurance exchanges.

http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20140612/NEWS03/140619909?tags=%7C307%7C74