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 04 2013

The Commonwealth Fund has a post asking if better care at lower cost is possible.  The post rehashes the usual complaints about the health care system and offers the usual remedies.  The worst thing is that it repeats the erroneous notion that a third of the care in the US is wasteful and unnecessary.

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Health-Reform-and-You/Better-Care-at-Lower-Cost.aspx
Dec 04 2013

Doctors may be less likely than the general population to seek aggressive end-of-life care, according to a story in the NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/20/your-money/how-doctors-die.html?_r=0
Dec 03 2013

MedSolutions has purchased Triad, a musculoskeletal care management vendor, to add to its overall cost management capabilities.

http://www.medsolutions.com/news/11-19-13.html
Dec 03 2013

Apax Partners and associated funds are purchasing One Call Care Management for a believed $2.3 billion and also acquiring Align Networks.  Both entities serve the workers comp industry and when combined will be the major vendor to employers and insurers in the space.

http://www.apax.com/news/apax-news/2013/october/funds-advised-by-apax-partners-to-acquire-one-call-care-management-and-align-networks.aspx
Dec 03 2013

The Hearst Corporation, owner of First DataBank and other health care software divisions, is acquiring Homecare Homebase, a provider of software for the home care and hospice industry.

http://www.pehub.com/2013/12/hearst-corporation-acquires-homecare-homebase/
Dec 03 2013

So who is happy with the reform law?  Not physicians, who are waking up to a reality of lower reimbursement and narrow provider networks for plans insurers are selling on the exchanges.  Payers say the changes are necessary to create competitive plans.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20131126/NEWS/311269951/white-house-hears-earful-from-doc-groups-about-narrow-provider?AllowView=VW8xUmo5Q21TcWJOb1gzb0tNN3RLZ0h0MWg5SVgra3NZRzROR3l0WWRMWGFWZjhIRWxiNUtpQzMyWmFxNVhvWUpibWdiUUEzemxjY3IyZVlHZUUwemlPUnA4T3JIOXEwUmEwUEJ1VUZ6cW51TXFYazZKRlZlY21ENlZnZ0E2UTdublpQdWZFeVRYL3NuUjlJNkFDbEdKN3Q=
Dec 02 2013

The excellent Altarum Institute index on health inflation showed only a 1% year-over-year increase in September, with even hospital prices rising only at 1.5%.  Utilization increased 2.7% on a per capita basis.  The bad news is that overall health spending in real terms continues to outpace economic growth.

http://altarum.org/sites/default/files/uploaded-related-files/CSHS-Price-Brief_November%202013.pdf
Dec 02 2013

Towers Watson has purchased private health insurance exchange vendor Liazon to add to its capabilities and to its earlier purchase of Extend Health.  All of the large benefits consultants are aggressively engaged in providing this capability to clients.

http://eba.benefitnews.com/health-insurance-exchange/news/towers-watson-private-exchange-advantages-of-liazon-purchase-2737820-1.html?gpt_units=/HIX&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=utm_hix_112613&hix
Dec 02 2013

Displaying the cost of lab tests in an EHR led to a reduction in orders for the tests by primary care physicians, according to research in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-013-2672-1
Dec 02 2013

iVantage Health Analytics, which serves primarily hospitals, has acquired Xylem Consulting to boost its capabilities in helping health systems with payer contract negotiation and analysis.

http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/analytics-vendor-acquisitions-hospital-knowledge-taking-risk-46937-1.html?ET=healthdatamanagement:e4080:3722900a:&st=email&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HDM_DAILY_112713_112613
Dec 02 2013

The number of issues relating to the reform law is embarrassing and we don't want to appear to be piling on by mentioning them all, but the Administration has had to delay by a year the program to allow small business to purchase health insurance on the health exchange.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20131127/NEWS/311279950?AllowView=VDl3UXpKSzRDUE9CbkJiYkY0M3hla0tyaUVVZEQrWT0=&utm_source=link-20131127-NEWS-311279950&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hits&utm_name=top
Dec 02 2013

CVS Caremark is buying the home infusion of Apria Healthcare, Coram, for about $2.1 billion.  This will make CVS the largest provider of home infusion and a bigger player in specialty drugs.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-27/cvs-agrees-to-buy-apria-s-coram-unit-for-2-1-billion.html