Apparently many people are still astounded that basic economic principles apply to health care. A study in the Annals of Emergency Medicine finds that ER use increased in Massachusetts after the implementation of reform. If something costs less, people will buy or use more of it. Simple as that.
Kannact, which intends to provide tablet-based apps to facilitate care in the home and monitoring and coordination of that care, has raised $3 million in financing.
According to Mark Farrah Associates, growth in Medicare Prescription Drug Plans slowed for the current year, with a little under one million net new members. Of the roughly 52 million Medicare beneficiaries, about 39 million have Part D coverage either through a stand-alone PDP or Medicare Advantage coverage. UnitedHealth, CVS Caremark and Humana are the largest players.
According to a study in the National Academy of Sciences venture capitalists are most likely to fund companies pitched by good-looking guys, and are about equally likely to fund companies of unattractive men and any woman. So the lessons are, find a good-looking guy to front for your business and if you are a vc, be aware of your own irrational tendencies!
Prime Health has received $8 million in debt financing to support its cost containment service business for the workers' comp, auto and corrections industries.
Procured Health's goal is to help doctors and institutions understand what medical equipment and devices cost and make better informed buying decisions and it has received $4 million in financing to help reach that goal.
WelVu, which aims to make it easier for patients to remember and follow doctor's orders, has received $1.25 million in seed money. Now if I could just remember where I put that app.
Showing how difficult it is to get consumers to think objectively about their doctors, research published in Health Services Research finds that patients whose doctors rank low on quality measures are no more likely than patients with highly-rated physicians to switch doctors. In fact, they may be more likely to switch health plans if the fact that their doctor is low-rated causes a higher copay.
In the wall of shame category, the list of the top ten compensated "non-profit" health system CEOs is topped by one earning over $6 million. There is no justification for non-profit, usually tax-exempt systems paying this kind of compensation and it has flow down effects on compensation of others that raises hospital costs significantly.
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.