A fascinating piece of research from JP MorganChase Institute finds that consumers, especially low-income ones, have higher out-of-pocket health care spending immediately after receiving a tax refund. It appears that consumers delay receipt of care or payment of previous bills until they get a tax refund they believe is coming.
Jan092018
InTouch Health, a telemedicine vendor, is acquiring TruClinc, which offers telehealth software.
Trilliant Health, which apparently is beyond brilliant health, has raised an additional, undisclosed (meaning small) round of financing for its service to help hospitals and other providers acquire patients.
City Block has raised an additional $21 million in funding to support its work to partner with providers and payers to improve primary care for Medicare and Medicaid patients. The funding was announced in the most hype-laden press release I have seen in a while. Never a good sign.
Lets all share a moment of silence to honor hospitals, which, according to the American Hospital Association, saw uncompensated care costs rise to $38.3 billion in 2016, up about 8% from 2015, but still just a fraction of the excessive profits garnered by health systems from overpricing and the excessive costs they incur due to overpaying management.
EHR and practice management software vendor Allscripts is acquiring competitor Practice Fusion for $100 million in cash, starting a likely wave of consolidation among EHR vendors. Now that most systems and practices have an EHR, growth is solely to come from stealing from competitors, or buying them. Not good news in the long run for customers, who will face higher prices, and whose already dismal satisfaction with most of these products won't likely be improved.
Connecture, a public company which provides software that facilitates health insurance exchanges, is being acquired at a puny 35 cents a share by a private equity firm. This stock once traded at $12 a share. Should be a clear warning about the dangers of small companies going public.
Genome Medical, which offers assistance on the use of genetic information to physicians and patients through a telemedicine platform, has raised an initial round of $23 million in capital.
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.
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.