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.

May 27 2014

Please, please stop funding these companies--you are wasting your time and money and I am tired of writing about them.  Mango Health has raised $5.25 million for its app to help improve patients' adherence to treatment regimens.

http://www.pehub.com/2014/05/kpcb-leads-series-a-round-for-mango-health/
May 27 2014

Tennessee regulators are proposing that a patient who uses telemedicine first must have an in-person visit with the physician on the other end of the line.  The purported reason is to ensure use of a primary care doctor and building a solid relationship, but the rule would greatly frustrate the ability of telemedicine to provide better and more convenient access to patients and would raise costs.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/industries/health-care/2014/05/19/tennessee-tighten-rules-telemedicine/9306711/
May 27 2014

Assurex Health has received $32 million in financing for development and sale of its genetic tests to guide mental health and pain treatment.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/mason/2014/05/21/assurex-health-secures-32m/9382763/
May 27 2014

EHR vendor Practice Fusion has created a real-time database from anonymized patient records.  The data can be used to search for drug issues or other treatment patterns.
May 23 2014

Clayton, Dubilier, a large buyout firm, is acquiring Healogics, which runs a chain of wound care centers, for over $900 million.

http://www.pehub.com/2014/05/clayton-dubilier-rice-to-acquire-healogics/
May 23 2014

SureScripts routed over a billion prescriptions last year, 58% of the total.  Outstanding progress has been made in moving to eprescribing.

http://surescripts.com/news-center/press-releases/!content/surescripts-reports-more-than-half-of-all-prescriptions-routed-electronically-in-2013-driving-adoption-of-broader-health-information-exchange
May 23 2014

Filament has received a seed round of $1 million for its digital personalized care plan offering.

http://medcitynews.com/2014/05/filament-labs-modernize-paper-based-care-plans/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=9b124f47c6-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c05cce483a-9b124f47c6-67648197
May 23 2014

Zirmed, which is backed by Sequoia Capital, has acquired Intelligent Healthcare, which provides population health management services.

http://www.pehub.com/2014/05/sequoia-capital-backed-zirmed-buys-intelligent-healthcare/
May 23 2014

Harvest Partners has made a large investment in Athletico, a large Midwestern chain of rehabilitation and physical therapy centers.

http://www.pehub.com/2014/05/harvest-partners-invests-in-athletico/
May 21 2014

A PWC report on health services M & A activity finds that practice management companies have been more active in acquiring physician groups than hospitals, while there was also significant activity in the long-term care space.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-health-services-total-deal-value-for-q1-2014-rose-152-pointing-to-renewed-deals-confidence-post-aca-implementation-according-to-pwc-us-259926451.html