by David A. Jones, Jr. September 2012 – When the 900-page-plus Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted in March 2010, my first reaction was simple relief that the exhausting, incoherent, multi-year political spectacle had finally ended. My second was that implementation of this committee-bred camel, representing the largest health system overhaul since the 1960s, would… Read more »

by Donald Jones August 2012 – 860 million people worldwide have at least one chronic disease.1  10,000 people in this country turn 65 each day and most have at least one chronic disease.2  In the US, health care is nearly a 3 trillion dollar industry, comprising close to 18% of the national GDP, and up… Read more »

by Kym S. Wambold July 2012 – I just returned from my third healthcare conference in 12 months and must admit I am increasingly surprised by the lack of discussion around “Sleep Health” in general and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) in particular. I recognize that managing chronic conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, and… Read more »

by Alexandra Drane June 2012 -Every generation has its legacy – whether it’s toppling dictators, championing civil rights, or changing attitudes around sex, drugs, and rock & roll. These formative events tend to imprint a person’s attitudes for life – thus shaping generational profiles. Consumer advertising, of course, has generational tailoring down to a science,… Read more »

Author’s Note: Although this article deals with healthcare, it’s a departure from our usual presentation. Rather than a healthcare or health IT topic that is, in essence, a business issue, this month it’s personal. The story is mine, and I debated whether to write it. But if it moves just one reader to action, I’ve… Read more »

by Mark Blatt, M.D. April 2012 – The simple truth about healthcare in the US is that the product the industry offers is too expensive for anyone to actually afford. Healthcare has been unaffordable for individuals for a long time. More recently, healthcare costs are threatening to bankrupt not only large self-funded corporations, but also… Read more »

by Richard Toren March 2012 -The Affordable Care Act has had a tectonic change effect across all segments of healthcare. Hospitals have become “health systems” through acquisitions of other hospitals, absorption of physician practices, and movements to accept total risk as if they were insurance companies. At the same time, there have been wholesale purchases… Read more »

by David Guy February 2012 – As the ARRA act incentivizes physicians to jettison paper files in favor of electronic records, integrating analog patient data to a digital ecosystem is prohibitive and problematic. Traditionally, medical device companies have focused on the device, and healthcare IT has focused on the data. Little work has been done… Read more »

by Mark Tomaino January 2012 – During a now distant 2011 holiday party, a social acquaintance asked me why I was so excited about the future of private equity investment in healthcare information technology (“HCIT”) companies. My somewhat bearish friend contexted his question with a litany of relevant observations, including that the HCIT landscape was… Read more »

by Mike Coyne September 2011 – The rules of the game have changed. Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, payments to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans will decrease on average an estimated 12 percent by 2017. To offset this lost revenue, MA plans must now focus efforts on demonstrating healthcare quality and efficiency… Read more »