...of the Humana brand and marketing, which has always been executed well. As to the outlook for digital health support–the prognosis by this Editor of this combination is, in the Magic 8 Ball’s answer, ‘reply hazy, ask later’. Humana was known in the industry for being fairly open to opportunities and backed them with funding (Healthsense, Vitality, what remained of Healthrageous) under business such as Humana Cares. Humana at Home also owns a home care management company, SeniorBridge. Will this be of interest to Aetna in population health management, or an early ‘For Sale’? Aetna, by contrast, has pivoted several... Continue Reading
Search Results for CVS-Aetna
Onward the 76 Hundred! Healthcare M&A, funding jam the news
...for GP surgeries and supportive housing, the TeleHealth Solutions HomePod adds remote patient monitoring from the home and SurgeryPod which records patient information prior to the appointment. Release (PDF) * Onward to Consolidation!: Regional insurers Centene (Medicaid) and Health Net (government managed care plans, Medicare and Medicaid) are merging in a deal valued at $6.8bn. Release, WSJ. Up in the air: Aetna’s acquisition of Humana, presuming it happens, has consequences for the city of Louisville and in truth, the whole state of Kentucky, detailed in Forbes. (Update 3 July–it’s final). Meanwhile, Cigna and Anthem are still talking, though not agreeing.... Continue Reading
A ‘Game of Thrones’ analogy to potential health insurer mergers
The Wall Street Journal has likened the merger action pending among America’s largest insurers to the series ‘Game of Thrones’, said thrones occupied by Aetna, Cigna, Humana, UnitedHealthcare and Anthem. These more aptly remind this Editor of the final stages of airline deregulation, except that none are in a non-medieval bankruptcy court. Their actions reflects the payers’ urgent concerns that now is the time to reinforce a national presence, that revenues in a Obamacare environment (well, we’ll see the effect of that US Supreme Court subsidy decision due imminently) can do nothing but go down and that Medicare Advantage, commercial... Continue Reading
Aetna may ‘buy into’ more analytics, digital health
Rumors now mainstreamed into press surround Aetna’s apparent interest in fellow insurers Humana and Cigna. Forbes last Friday started the ball rolling with an article last Friday focusing on the main event driving insurance payer consolidation: the transition of Medicare from fee-for-service to value-based bundled payments and accountable care organization (ACO) models. Humana has substantial Medicare business and a foot in home care (SeniorBridge), but has innovated in digital health: partnerships (Healthsense, TTA 20 Dec 13), purchases (what remained of Healthrageous, TTA 16 Oct 13), employee wellness (Vitality) and app development. Cigna is a major insurer with corporate business, but... Continue Reading
Do startups truly threaten the ‘healthcare establishment’?
...IP really does need to be protected further favors some critical mass and caution. The smarter parts of the Healthcare Establishment are buying innovation: note the purchases and alliances recently made by Humana, Anthem, GE (Ventures-StartUp Health and Care Innovations’ certifications), Optum (Alere Health) and Medtronic (Cardiocom), Mayo Clinic backing Better, and HealthSpot/Xerox (only ‘to hand’ examples). The laggards? Hospitals and many insurers (Aetna’s struggles with CarePass and Healthagen) are not a surprise. To paraphrase in a slightly fractured way the sage ‘Pogo’–have we (startups) met ‘the enemy’ (the Healthcare Establishment) and he is now (to an increasing degree) us?... Continue Reading
NY Digital Health Accelerator 2015: call for applications
...to capital. Certainly its 20+ partners come from the top level of NY healthcare companies and providers, such as Aetna, North Shore-LIJ Health System, Winthrop University Hospital, Rochester General, VNSNY, Mount Sinai and many others. 15 companies in the prior two years of the program have done extremely well, raising a total of nearly $41 million in additional capital post-program, securing 33 pilots and creating more than 120 jobs. Two were acquired: Avado and Remedy Systems. New for 2015: to encourage collaborative innovation, two companies can jointly apply to present a combined solution. NYDHA website, press release, FAQs on applying.... Continue Reading
Hackermania running wild, 2015 edition
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Hackermania.jpg” thumb_width=”300″ /] Do we need the Hulkster Running Wild against Hacking? It’s so heartwarming to see the mainstream press catch up to what your Editors have been whinging on for the past few years: that healthcare data is the Emperor With No Clothes. Here we have Reuters and the New York Times with a case of the vapors, seeking a fainting couch. Reuters dubs 2015 ‘The year of the healthcare hack’. The FBI is investigating the AnthemHealth breach, while their counterparts UnitedHealth, Cigna and Aetna are in full, breathless damage control mode. The Times at least delves into... Continue Reading
News highlights for Friday
...Anthem has called in Mandiant (FireEye) to beef up its cybersecurity. Other reports: WSJ, Modern Healthcare….The Blueprint Health accelerator has a new initiative, the Collective. It is designed to pair up major healthcare providers and payers with startups and early stage companies. So far signed up are Aetna, AstraZeneca, HP, Montefiore, North Shore LIJ, New York-Presbyterian, Samsung, EmblemHealth, Philips and Razorfish Healthware. More information here….The HealthSpot Station telehealth/telemedicine kiosk is readying a $11.6 million funding round from four investors soon, based on an SEC Form D filed 28 January, according to MedCityNews. This follows on an undisclosed investment sum from... Continue Reading
Looking back over Telehealth & Telecare Aware’s predictions for 2014, part II
...(Matthew Herper, who predicted this early in 2014, and David Shaywitz contemplate the ka-ching in Forbes). And when you can’t pivot, exit stage left and pay off the VCs and shareholders. Aetna CarePass passed, its parent Healthagen retreating to a more traditional payer services model. Alere Health, after considerable work in less than two years absorbing and redeveloping MedApps, integrating it into case management and patient analytics, sold the kit and kaboodle to giant Optum which will find a place for it. (One hopes for the best outcome for Kent Dicks, a key part of the AH transformation.) Zephyr sold... Continue Reading
Why a smartwatch may feel…de trop
De trop —French, adjective, meaning too much, too many, unwanted Have you noticed that many early adopters have skipped smartwatches? Other wearables such as fitness trackers have taken their place successively on the wrists of your favorite Quantified Selfer or weekend warrior. (A sign: they are now mass market at drug stores like CVS and sports stores for the holiday.) But how many people are looking forward to a special delivery of an Apple Watch, Samsung Gear S or even the well-reviewed and well-priced LG G Watch R in Santa’s pack? Having just returned from the NYeC Digital Health Conference,... Continue Reading
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