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Veronica Combs

Veronica Combs

I am the editor in chief at MedCityNews.com. I started writing and editing in the print world and joined a dotcom right before the 2000 crash. I was at TechRepublic/CNET/BNET for 7 years. Health was more interesting to me than the latest version of Windows, so I left for a startup tracking prescription drug news. A year later, MedTrackAlert was acquired by HealthCentral, so I shifted to audience research. The fun of daily news and interviewing smart people brought me to MedCity News in February 2012.

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From 13 hips to 2: How one hospital is cutting costs now

From 13 hips to 2: How one hospital is cutting costs now

May 20, 2013 6:37 am by | 5 Comments

Payers can take it slow with payment reform and wellness programs, but hospitals need cost-saving changes now. Comments from Ken Paulus of Allina Health stood out in a crowd of ... Read more
Why I will ask my doctor to use a new breast cancer test

Why I will ask my doctor to use a new breast cancer test

May 15, 2013 4:04 pm by | 0 Comments

I do not get annual mammograms, even though I am 42. I got a baseline in my late 30s in preparation for regular mammograms in a few years. That was ... Read more
Angelina’s alternative: New test spots breast cancer risk at cellular level

Angelina’s alternative: New test spots breast cancer risk at cellular level

May 15, 2013 3:17 pm by | 0 Comments

There is a new screening for breast cancer that could have allowed Angelina Jolie to choose watchful waiting instead of a double mastectomy.Earlier this year, Atossa Genetics launched the ForeCYTE ... Read more
A little help here! Ideas from payers about clinical areas ripe for innovation

A little help here! Ideas from payers about clinical areas ripe for innovation

May 10, 2013 8:04 am by | 3 Comments

What payer problem really needs fixing? The men representing UnitedHealthcare, Aetna and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota had quick answers to moderator Lisa Suennen‘s question. The group was discussing ... Read more
7 things you should know about protecting IP under the updated patent laws

7 things you should know about protecting IP under the updated patent laws

May 8, 2013 7:09 pm by | 1 Comments

Passed in September 2011, the final phases of the America Invents Act went into effect in March. Cyrus Morton, a partner at the Minneapolis office of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & ... Read more
Medtech investors explain the nuances of evaluating reimbursement risk

Medtech investors explain the nuances of evaluating reimbursement risk

May 8, 2013 1:22 pm by | 0 Comments

It’s not as simple as “Do I have a code?”A “early stage vs. late stage” panel at today’s MedTech Investing conference in Minneapolis talked about what questions they ask when ... Read more
Three examples of how “the system” is changing medtech investment decisions

Three examples of how “the system” is changing medtech investment decisions

May 8, 2013 12:54 pm by | 1 Comments

Will Kaiser pay for this?Kirk Nielsen of Versant Ventures said that has become the litmus test for healthcare investing in the new world of healthcare reform.An “early stage vs. late ... Read more
Maxwell Health offers complete insurance experience from broker to concierge to coach

Maxwell Health offers complete insurance experience from broker to concierge to coach

May 8, 2013 7:34 am by | 0 Comments

At Maxwell Health, innovation in healthcare means 360 degrees of service wrapped up in a beautiful user experience. The new company is helping employers and employees make health insurance decisions ... Read more
HealthTap wins over Khosla and big Series B round

HealthTap wins over Khosla and big Series B round

May 8, 2013 6:45 am by | 0 Comments

HealthTap has raised $24 million in Series B financing, with Khosla Ventures leading the round.Previous investors Mayfield Fund and Mohr Davidow Ventures also participated. Keith Rabois will join HealthTap’s board ... Read more
Why Rap Genius is exactly what doctors, patients and all of healthcare needs

Why Rap Genius is exactly what doctors, patients and all of healthcare needs

May 7, 2013 7:36 am by | 1 Comments

It’s hard to get past the crazy of the Rap Genius team, probably because it’s such a comprehensive crazy. Recreational use of prescription meds, cultural appropriation, comments that are a ... Read more
5 strategic reminders for healthcare startups

5 strategic reminders for healthcare startups

May 6, 2013 2:22 pm by | 0 Comments

Some advice is good enough to repeat and repeat and repeat. Marti Nyman is managing director of Altavail Partners, LLC, an innovation, strategy and business acceleration consultancy. He also writes ... Read more
Another example of how state laws make healthcare even more complicated

Another example of how state laws make healthcare even more complicated

May 3, 2013 3:19 pm by | 1 Comments

As I was writing about WellnessFX and their free blood test, I dug into LabCorp’s site. I wondered if there were laws about releasing lab results directly to patients.Obviously I ... Read more
I would spend HSA dollars to cut out the bloodwork middle man

I would spend HSA dollars to cut out the bloodwork middle man

May 2, 2013 4:44 pm by | 0 Comments

Waiting for lab results was the second biggest patient gripe in a recent Consumer Reports survey of patients. Now there is a free solution to that hassle: WellnessFX is offering ... Read more
Four investment opportunities in the brave new world of private insurance exchanges

Four investment opportunities in the brave new world of private insurance exchanges

May 1, 2013 3:39 pm by | 0 Comments

Psilos seems to have the investment philosophy that it is better to be smart than hip. You won’t find any mobile apps or corporate wellness programs in the company’s portfolio. ... Read more
G1 Therapeutics developing treatment to protect soldiers, chemo patients from radiation damage

G1 Therapeutics developing treatment to protect soldiers, chemo patients from radiation damage

May 1, 2013 7:51 am by | 0 Comments

After the Boston Marathon bombing, it’s easy to understand why the government is giving G1 Therapeutics millions of dollars to develop a pill that protects against radiation exposure.If the pressure-cooker ... Read more