Highlights of the important and interesting in the world of healthcare:
Hospitals injure patients. Almost one in five hospital patients was injured by their care, according to a study of 10 U.S. hospitals published in the New England Journal of Medicine that found little improvement from industry and government efforts to improve safety, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.
Reform will expand Medicaid. The impending Medicaid expansion — compliments of healthcare reform — will be the single biggest change in the program since its inception in 1965, according to a New England Journal of Medicine article.
Acquisition a boon for Morgenthaler. Medtronic’s $800 million acquisition of Ardian, which makes a catheter designed to help treat people with drug-resistant hypertension, was a boon for Morgenthaler Ventures, giving the Menlo Park, California, venture firm its largest exit from a medical device investment, according to VentureWire.
Massachusetts allows health insurance rate hikes. After rejecting double-digit increases earlier this year, Massachusetts regulators are allowing a more modest round of rate hikes to take effect in January for health insurance policies covering small businesses and individuals, according to the Boston Globe.
Insurer, doctors team up to tame costs. Medical Mutual of Ohio and Cleveland Clinic Community Physician Partnership — two major players in the Northeast Ohio medical community — are looking at ways to change that familiar fee-for-service payment model between doctors and insurance companies with the goal of improving patient care and saving money, according to the Plain Dealer.
Angels hurt by bubble? For months, there’s been talk of a seed-stage bubble. Last week during an interview at the Web 2.0 conference, venture capitalist Fred Wilson said, “The angel bubble is a good thing for everybody but the angels.” That’s not true, says peHUB.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Stem cell research a bust? In 2004 Robert Klein, chairman of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine helped pass Proposition 71, establishing the institute with $3 billion in taxpayer money for ten years. Now, Klein plans to seek up to $3 billion more from state taxpayers for his stem cell fiefdom despite having little to show, according to the Family Research Council (which is against embryonic stem cell research because it destroys embryos).
