In 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.
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.
Altarum 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.
Magellan Rx Management has issued its fourth annual Medical Pharmacy Trend Report, which focuses on drugs paid under the medical benefit side of a health plan and finds continuing double-digit growth and the spread of various management techniques.
Onward Behavioral Health, which is owned by a PE firm, has been sold to Pyramid Healthcare, also owned by a PE firm and also in the behavioral health business.
Google Ventures is leading a$130 million investment into Flatiron Health, an oncology data company, which will use the funding in part to acquire Altos Solutions, a provider of oncology EMRs.
IMS has issued a report on cancer care, focussing on drugs. A very timely report considering issues regarding the costs of the multiple new drugs for various cancers and their high cost.
Working with the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, LifeMap Sciences, a subsidiary of BioTime, a regenerative medicine company, has committed $5 million to a new venture called LifeMap Solutions, which will help patients collect and integrate genetic and other data into their health records.
EOS Health, which is at the dawn of its trajectory, has raised $8.2 million to expand its (now say it all together) mobile software platform to help people manage their health and health care better, initially in the diabetes space.
A draft report from a panel established by the National Quality Forum finds that current performance measures penalize providers which serve large numbers of low-income patients for factors beyond the providers control.
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.