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.

Feb 14 2014

A large study done in Canada over 25 years and reported in the British Medical Journal suggests that mammography screening does not lower death rates from breast cancer and likely results in unnecessary treatment which can cause harm to the women receiving it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/health/study-adds-new-doubts-about-value-of-mammograms.html
Feb 14 2014

A survey from the Urban Institute finds that most uninsured people who are getting insurance under the reform law don't think the new coverage is going to improve their health or lower their costs.  Pretty smart.

http://hrms.urban.org/briefs/2014-expectations-for-health-care.html
Feb 13 2014

Welltok, the health and wellness tool company, has received $22 million in additional financing, led in part by the IBM venture fund.

http://medcitynews.com/2014/02/welltok-raises-22m-ibms-watson-makes-first-digital-health-investment/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=2d0ae4cb49-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c05cce483a-2d0ae4cb49-67648197
Feb 13 2014

PM Pediatrics, a builder and operator of clinics to provide pediatric services in off-hours, has raised $14 million to support growth.

http://medcitynews.com/2014/02/pediatric-group-offers-care-night-weekends-raises-14-million/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=2d0ae4cb49-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c05cce483a-2d0ae4cb49-67648197
Feb 13 2014

A study in JAMA looks at hospital readmissions after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation units, finding an overall rate of around 12% for leading conditions with substantial variation across facilities and regions.  Many of these patients appear to be in a downward cycle which is hard to interrupt.

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1829684
Feb 12 2014

According to a GlobalData report the market for electronic medical records will hit $17 billion in 2017. McKesson is the current market leader at $3.3 billion in sales for 2012, followed by Cerner at $2.7 billion and Allscripts at $1.5 billion.

http://drugstorenews.com/article/report-market-electronic-health-records-reach-17-billion-2017
Feb 12 2014

Specialists on Call, which provides consultations to hospitals, has received an additional $32 million in funding from Warburg Pincus.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/11/warburgpincus-soc-idUSL2N0LG00F20140211
Feb 12 2014

The Administration has once again delayed part of the employer mandate in the health reform law, this time for smaller employers, and changed the rules on how larger employers will have to comply.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/11/us/politics/health-insurance-enforcement-delayed-again-for-some-employers.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140210&tntemail0=y&_r=1&utm_campaign=KHN%3A+Daily+Health+Policy+Report&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=11905994&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9frtRekkKkfFQISIbUfX1EPYp_YKTDbCPuUYJwWmAQdJbpgFdNHMVcBmFquXaShlzwR75PjyOo7P8EjUu-H_BQkwbI2A&_hsmi=11905994
Feb 12 2014

Castlight's IPO filing shows a company with huge losses, low revenue, massive debt and a nice client base, but a high dependence on revenue from one client.  Clearly a bailout attempt for the current vc owners.

http://medcitynews.com/2014/02/castlight-health-files-100m-ipo/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=48bfcbb40e-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c05cce483a-48bfcbb40e-67648197
Feb 12 2014

A study in Health Affairs finds that nursing homes in Massachusetts that used telemedicine for off-hours coverage reduced hospitalizations.

http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/33/2/244.abstract?=right
Feb 12 2014

A Viewpoint int he Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that excess ICU bed supply in the US causes overuse and excess spending with no improvement in outcomes.

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1813219