Morning Headlines 11/20/13

The Anatomy of Health Care in the United States

Researchers at Johns Hopkins publish a study in JAMA that evaluates the economic mechanisms contributing to the rise of healthcare costs in the US. The study finds that costs are increasing for a number of reasons: 1) hospital and practice consolidation is weakening the purchasing power of healthcare consumers 2)  drug and medical device costs are increasing 3) expensive investments in health IT have not resulted in a significant savings.

eClinicalWorks Makes Additional $50 Million Investment in Patient Engagement & Population Health

Westborough, MA-based eClinicalWorks will spend $50 million bolstering its patient engagement business unit, adding 100 employees over the next year to enhance the company’s patient portal mobile app.

Icahn says would ‘never’ push Apple to buy Nuance

Active Investor Carl Icahn, who has a 16.9 percent stake in Nuance and a significant stake in Apple, says that he will not pressure Apple to buy Nuance.

Healthsherpa Helps Thousands Get Insurance Quotes

Three entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley code a healthcare.gov competitor, called TheHealthSherpa.com, in just three days. The site is able to generate insurance quotes based off zip code, age, and smoking status, and estimates federal subsidies based on annual income. It stops short of actually enrolling consumers in new plans, but does serve as a research tool for consumers, not to mention proof of how quickly and efficiently projects can be rolled out if the right people are involved.