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13Aug, 2018
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Why does the U.S spend so much on healthcare (Part 4)

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As we try to transition to another subject in healthcare (blockchain and healthcare), the media continues to confirm our previous comments that nearly every general, economic and business media, talks about healthcare costs daily. On August 1, 2018, the Wall Street Journal did an entire page (A6) titled, “Why Americans Spend So Much on Health Care.”  I could not ignore that headline, or the amazing information presented by the Wall Street Journal. The biggest point made by the Wall Street Journal article is primarily focused on the comparison of the […]
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31Jul, 2018
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Why does the U.S. spend so much in healthcare? (Part 3)

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Why does the U.S. spend so much money in healthcare?  This topic crosses our desks, screens, newspapers, magazines and talk shows daily.  Sometimes I wonder if I’m obsessed, as I see it everywhere; however, I am not the only one obsessed. Stored on my server, I have a file that contains all the major headlines that I want to discuss in future blogs.  After doing a quick search, I’ve discovered that there is more than one article daily in a major publication or news source that discusses healthcare costs.  Yesterday, […]
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28Jun, 2018
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Why does the U.S. spend so much in healthcare? (Part 2)

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In our last blog, we brought up the recent article in The Atlantic magazine, noting the title had gotten my attention: “How We Spend $3,400,000,000,000 – Why more than half of America’s healthcare spending goes to five percent of patients.”  As we stated, younger people generally don’t spend very much money on healthcare with relatively modest costs until about age 45 when the cost begins to escalate yearly. I have had the honor and pleasure to speak to numerous young people – innovators in healthcare – that are seeking to […]
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19Jun, 2018
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Why does the U.S. spend so much in healthcare? (Part 1)

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Recently, I read an article in The Atlantic magazine: “How We Spend $3,400,000,000,000 – Why more than half of America’s healthcare spending goes to five percent of patients.” The title was a great hook for me. The meat of the article was this paragraph: If that $3.4 trillion were spread equally throughout the population, the bill would come to some $10,350 for every man, woman and child in the country. But fortunately—for most of us, anyway—the cost of health care is not equally distributed. Rather, a small number of Americans run […]
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13Jun, 2018
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President Trump and Prescription Drugs (Part 3)

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Whether you like, dislike, or are apathetic about President Trump, it remains a fact that he has handled nearly every issue he has faced in a non-traditional way.  It seems he will do the same with prescription drug prices in the U.S. Though drug prices account for $320 billion (USD) annually, or about 10% of total healthcare cost of over $3.3 trillion, it is disproportionally more than 10% of an actual patient’s cost.  It also has a material effect on health; a drug costing $0.50 per pill can help save […]
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5Jun, 2018
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President Trump and Prescription Drugs (Part 2)

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In our second installment of President Trump and Prescription Drugs, President Donald J. Trump recently announced a “Blueprint” to reduce U.S. drug prices.  We start with a report from IQVIA (formerly IMS Health and Quintiles) on oncology drug cost (note U.S. share of total): “The global market for oncology therapeutic medicines will reach as much as $200 billion by 2022, averaging 10-13% growth over the next five years, with the U.S. market reaching as much as $100 billion by 2022, averaging 12-15% growth.” Many times, we have discussed the opaqueness […]
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23May, 2018
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President Trump and Prescription Drugs (Part 1)

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Over the years, this blog has concentrated primarily on how healthcare is being changed by technology.  There are two tectonic forces that we believe are changing healthcare today and they are: digitization of healthcare and consumerism.  This combination, driven by the force of three technology savvy generations, is in fact the only thing that will change healthcare.  This change has begun and we will continue to see it transform over the next five to seven years, something that has not happened in over 70 years of conversation about healthcare reform. […]
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9May, 2018
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Healthcare Transformation: Walmart & Humana (Final)

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In our last couple of blogs, we have expressed our excitement about a potential deal between Walmart (WMT) and Humana (HUM).  The latter, a company I have known very well for 20 years, as they are a dominant player in my home market in South Florida.  I have had contracts with Humana for most of my 25 years in healthcare, and a company I founded and grew to modest size is part of Humana today. I think a combination of Walmart and Humana is like none other I have seen […]
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12Apr, 2018
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Healthcare Transformation (Part 2): Walmart & Humana

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In our last blog, we left off with the recent announcement that Walmart (WMT) was looking to acquire Humana (HUM) teasing that this combination could be different. Over the last year, we have frequently discussed what combination of merging companies we thought were not going to work, for example, our series on “Silicon Valley and Healthcare.”  The series broke down what Silicon Valley companies could or could not do in healthcare. I also wrote about the announcement that Amazon, Berkshire and J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) were going to partner to […]
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5Apr, 2018
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Healthcare Transformation: What could it look like?

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When we first began this blog, we wanted to discuss the things that we see that could, and most likely will, transform healthcare.  We are a healthcare technology company, and while technology is part of our DNA, it’s not all of it.  The other part of our DNA deals with facilities, systems, processes, and consumerization issues in healthcare. Those consumerization issues relate to patient/consumer control of their own health data; at the very least, to see and share that collective information with other caregivers.  We carry that philosophy literally in […]
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