Consumer health information firm WebMd is buying Jobson Healthcare, which offers information and marketing services to reach physicians, eye care professionals and pharmacists.
Large PE firm KKR is buying health physician staffing firm Envision Healthcare for $9.9 billion. Envision provides physicians to ER rooms and post-acute care facilities, as well as doing teleradiology, anesthesiology and pediatrics.
A private equity firm is acquiring DaVita's primary care business, Paladina Health, which operates over 50 physician offices and focuses on employer-sponsored plan patients. This continues DaVita's exit from the physician business.
Health plan company Regence has issued data showing that its members save around $100 per visit when they use telemedicine versus an in-person visit. About $75 of the savings is the cost of the visit and the remainder is travel and wait time cost.
Like many companies, Nokia has found digital health rarely lives up to the hype. The company paid 170 million euros for Withings, a digital scale and weight management company, and acquired other digital health businesses, which it is now selling for a pittance and for which it is taking a 141 million euro write-off.
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. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements through Roche Consulting, LLC and may be reached at khroche@healthy-skeptic.com.