healthy muse healthcare news.
- This week in healthcare: The rapid rise of Hospital-at-home programs, Amazon vs. GoodRx, Cedar buys Ooda Health, big telehealth declines, million dollar vaccines, no more masks, Piedmont’s hospital acquisitions in Georgia, platform disruption, and more.
The Hospital at Home Trend.
As a new venture into the Hospital at Home care model, Kaiser and the Mayo Clinic (AKA, massive players in the healthcare space) announced a $100 million joint investment into Medically Home. (Link)
This blog post gives a unique insight into how Mayo Clinic and Kaiser will scale Medically Home’s operations.
- In order to provide higher acuity care in the home, the firm will have a centralized HUB that communicates with caregivers, and connects all aspects of that patient’s care. This care could include everything from medication delivery to dialysis treatments.
Why you should care: Obviously with Covid, there’s been a huge push for more at-home care. This partnership, and other programs similar to Medically Home, will allow seniors to age comfortably in place as healthcare innovation allows care for more complex medical conditions in the home. (Like, Best Buy?)
Coronavirus updates.
Cases: Are dropping in ALL 50 states – case reports are at their lowest levels since September and have been dropping over the past few weeks. The U.S. seven day average is 33k – down from last week’s report of 41k – as of this writing. (Link).
Vaccines: are trending at 1.6 million per day, down from last week’s 7-day average of 2.1 million. (Link). Fully vaccinated = 37% of Americans. At least one dose administered = 47% of Americans.
- Of course, the biggest news this week came from the CDC’s new guidance, stating that vaccinated individuals no longer have to wear masks indoors. (Link).
- Between this updated guidance and Ohio’s governor offering a $1 million lotto for vaccine recipients, the government is heavily incentivizing people to get vaccinated. (Link)
- Fauci wants school open ‘full blast’ in the fall. (Link)
- Pfizer’s vaccine is now recommended for 12-15 year olds. (Link)
Quick Hits
Biz Hits
Cedar buys Ooda Health: As probably the biggest news in the digital health world this week, healthcare payments firm Cedar agreed to purchase its peer, Ooda Health, for $425 million. Cedar partners with health systems and payors in efforts to cut down on administrative waste, make healthcare payments more transparent, and improve the overall revenue cycle management process.
- This transaction is one of those ‘un-sexy’ acquisitions you hear about, but probably makes the combined company into a pretty interesting player in the administrative space. (Link)
Signify Health: This was a good dive into Signify’s Q1 and provided some insights into the segments that the firm operates in. (Link)
Telehealth: Publicly traded telehealth firms are continuing to decline in 2021 after significant growth in 2021. As of this writing, all telehealth firms are down over 30% from their 52-week high’s. (Link)
Amazon vs. GoodRx: Amazon unveiled its highly anticipated drug price comparison tool, in direct competition with GoodRx. Prime members are now able to compare a drug’s price at Amazon Pharmacy and 60,000 pharmacies nationwide. (Link)
- Notably, GoodRx execs are downplaying Amazon’s emergence in their territory. (Link)
Hospital M&A: This article dives into Piedmont Healthcare’s recent acquisitions in Georgia, including purchasing 7 hospitals THIS YEAR. Piedmont is definitely picking up the pace. (Link)
One Medical: Saw its losses steepen in Q1, but is bullish about its growth prospects in the near future including its partnership with Baylor Scott & White in Texas. (Link)
Oak Street Health: Similarly to One Medical, OSH continued its bullish commentary on rolling out new clinics and expanding in its value-based care mission. (Link)
Cano Health: Keep this MA player on your radar, as Cano Health is expected to go public soon at a $4.4 billion valuation. (Link)
Policy Hits
Missouri Medicaid: Missouri’s governor announced that despite voters approving Medicaid expansion in the state, there isn’t enough funding in the state budget for the program’s expansion. Hmm. (Link)
MPFS: I thought this was a solid, very brief overview of the CMS 2021 final rule for physician practices, including the elimination of the 99201 CPT code (RIP) and expected reimbursement impact by specialty. (Link)
PBMs: States are probing the business practices of pharmacy benefit managers, per the WSJ. (Paywall)
Here we go again: Democrats can’t agree on drug pricing stuff. Where have I heard this before? (Link)
Other Hits
Brain: What happens to your brain under anesthesia? (Link)
Autism: This was an interesting read related to how studying individuals with autism – and their intense interests – is helping researchers learn more about the brain. (Link)
Thought-Provoking Editorials
Interference: An interesting / contrarian take on the author’s perceived consequences of more governmental interference in healthcare related to recent proposed drug pricing controls and the rollout of a public option. (Link)
Antitrust: On the flip side, the Commonwealth Fund argues that the government needs more tools to address antitrust issues in healthcare. What do you think? (Link)
Healthy Muse Top Picks
Drugs: The latest from Out of Pocket, this was a great read on prescription drugs on how the prescription drug market works. (Link)
Platforms: A good read from the Health Care Blog, this article dives into platform disruptions and the potential that virtual care platforms have to change the provider landscape. (Link)
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