healthy muse healthcare news.
- This week in healthcare: Walmart moves into telehealth with MeMD acquisition, independent physicians are in the minority, major home health tailwinds, Q1 earnings roll on, Pfizer’s FDA approval for teens, ramping ACA sign-ups, and more.
Walmart buys a no-name telehealth provider, MeMD.
Walmart announced on May 6th its intention to purchase MeMD, which is a multi-specialty telehealth provider that nobody had really heard of until…now. (Link to press release)
It’s an interesting addition to Walmart’s health clinic rollouts and a notable play in the retail giant’s overall healthcare strategy considering recent rumors that the firm was scaling back its healthcare clinic rollout goals. (Paywall – Insider)
Bigger picture: Based on comments from the press release and others, Walmart seems to want to complement its in-store healthcare offerings with a telehealth option for customers. The move seems to indicate that if you want to be taken seriously as a healthcare player, you NEED to have a telehealth option.
- The move could be reactive in nature too – considering that Amazon Care just announced its intention to expand nationwide for employees – and has its first B2B client – Walmart might be playing defense to stay competitive in the employment market against its #1 competitor (although it already offers telehealth to employees).
- Also, while this is the first acquisition Walmart has made into the space, the firm has partnered with other telehealth firms like Ro and Doctor on Demand in the past couple of years.
- Both Amazon and Walmart are laying the foundation for scalable healthcare presences nationwide.
Coronavirus updates.
Cases: Are dropping and have been dropping over the past few weeks. The U.S. seven day average is 41k – down from last week’s report of 49k – as of this writing. (Link).
Vaccines: are trending at 2.1 million per day, down from last week’s 7-day average of 2.3 million. (Link). Fully vaccinated = 34% of Americans. At least one dose administered = 46% of Americans.
- Moderna reported positive results for booster shots against variants. (Link)
- Pfizer’s vaccine was authorized by the FDA for use in children aged 12-15. (Link)
‘Rona Reads:
- Similar to other procedures and services in healthcare, Covid has seen drastic variations in pricing across state lines and providers. KHN dives deeper into these disparities. (Link)
- I thought this Stat News opinion piece was interesting re: patent rights on Covid vaccines and how waiving these rights probably wouldn’t do much in the short-term. (Link)
Quick Hits
Biz Hits
Notable Q1 earnings observations:
- Outset Medical: As in-home dialysis provider Outset Medical tries to crack the market, I thought their investor presentation had a solid overview of the dialysis industry in a concise format. (Link)
- Cigna: Raised its earnings and revenue guidance (similarly to the other managed care behemoths). Its Evernorth segment, which includes Express Scripts, helped bolster earnings and saw big growth year-over-year. (Link)
- Related: I thought this KFF analysis into health insurer performance in 2020 did a good job of highlighting managed care profitability during the pandemic. (Link)
- Home Health things to know:
- Utilization: Home health volumes are already 116% above their pre-pandemic baselines, according to Home Health Care News. (Link)
- LHC: Home health provider LHC Group noted several tailwinds during its Q1 call – including the Medicare sequestration extension, further expansion into home care, and increased funding for Medicaid and home care initiatives by the Biden Admin. (Link)
- Pennant Group: Similarly to LHC, Pennant is expecting major growth and tailwinds in their home health and hospice segments, but is focusing less on any facility-based senior living operations. (Link)
- On a related note: U.S. nursing home employment has declined drastically this year. (Link)
Partners: Encompass Health and Georgia health system Piedmont announced a JV to jointly operate three inpatient rehab facilities in Georgia. The announcement comes on the heels of Piedmont purchasing several hospitals from HCA. (Link)
Physician Losses: In a reversing trend to what’s happening nationwide with physician employment, Philadelphia system Tower Health is restructuring its medical group, which includes terminating some provider contracts. (Link)
Healthcare IPOs: Per S&P Global, healthcare IPOs during the first quarter of 2021 have more than doubled when compared to 2020. The article attributes the change to increased demand for Covid-related therapies and diagnostics, as well as a push for more innovation in the healthcare space. Not sure – is there enough money in healthcare yet? (Link)
Policy Hits
ACA Sign-Ups: According to the Biden Admin, almost 1 million people have signed up for ACA plans since the special open enrollment period began in February. Tailwinds include increased subsidies for certain individuals and easier access for enrollees. (Link)
Other Hits
Physician Employment: In a first in the U.S., there are now more employed physicians than there are physicians that practice independently. (Link)
Birthing: The birth rate fell 4% in 2020 to a new low. I wonder what the deterrent was there. (Link)
Thought-Provoking Editorials
Public Option Opinions: This was a pretty engaging piece from the Brookings Institute on thinking about smartly designing a public option policy that would actually set out to reduce prices for healthcare consumers. (Link)
Healthy Muse Top Picks
New Look, who dis: Go check out Out-of-Pocket’s revamped site which has a fantastic design. Nikhil Krishnan does great work with his newsletter and describing healthcare business models – I highly recommend dropping a subscription if you haven’t already. Also, check out the most recent article on SWORD Health – which provides MSK care via smart sensors and virtual therapies. (Link)
Increased Complexity: This was a great (but revealing) read from ProPublica about the increased complexities in cancer cases being found in patients now after going undiagnosed during the first year of the pandemic. (Link)
Pharmacies: Here’s a good read from the NY Times highlighting the various ways that CVS, Walgreens, and others are targeting the mental health market, including providing therapy within their retail footprints. (Link – soft paywall)
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