IMS Health has acquired Forcea, a European provider of business intelligence and analytics, to boost its performance improvement capabilities for customers.
http://www.imshealth.com/portal/site/imshealth/menuitem.c76283e8bf81e98f53c753c71ad8c22a/?vgnextoid=3265ba03c0bd5410VgnVCM10000076192ca2RCRD&vgnextchannel=5ec1e590cb4dc310VgnVCM100000a48d2ca2RCRD&vgnextfmt=defaultCarePayment, which helps patients finance the cost of medical bills, has received an additional $100 million in financing.
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20140513/NEWS/305139925?AllowView=VDl3UXk1TzhDL2VCbkJiYkY0M3hlMGFvakVVZENPTT0=&utm_source=link-20140513-NEWS-305139925&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hits&utm_name=topIn the slightly head-scratching acquisition department, Quintiles, a large contract research and drug and device services firm, is acquiring Encore Health Resources, which consults mostly with providers in regard to EHR implementation and other IT needs. Quintiles says it will improve access to real-world data about drug use.
http://www.quintiles.com/library/press-releases/quintiles-announces-agreement-to-acquire-encore-health-resources/SolveBio has raised $2 million to develop its business of collecting and cleaning up genomic data to be used as a reference set for providers and developers.
http://medcitynews.com/2014/05/solvebio-scores-2m-clean-index-genomic-data-developers-can-focus-building-applications/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=82d4ef3360-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c05cce483a-82d4ef3360-67648197Altarum Institute's March health price report (which tracks only the price component of health spending growth) shows a muted year-over-year increase of only 1.1%, indicating that utilization is the primary cause of the overall 7% spending growth.
http://altarum.org/sites/default/files/uploaded-related-files/CSHS-Price-Brief_May%202014_0.pdfSpeaking of poor research (see today’s Commentary) a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds that Massachusetts’ health reform led to reduced mortality rates, a likely flawed study with untested correlates. The more credible Oregon Medicaid lottery study finds no such effect on mortality.