Venture investors, private equity, and corporations funneled $2 billion into digital health startups in the first quarter of 2019, down 19% from the nearly $2.5 billion invested a year ago. There were also 38 fewer deals done in the first quarter this year than last year, when investors backed 187 early stage digital health companies, according to data from Mercom Capital Group.
At the heart of our nation’s debate over health care are two questions: Do we currently have a market for health care? Should we have one? The answer to the first question is easy: No. While the U.S. has a quasi-public, quasi-private health-care system, we do not currently have a strong marketplace for health-care services and treatments.
Politics can be an ugly business. Health-care politics, especially so. Health-care companies that get mixed up in politics? That was $28 billion worth of ugly on Tuesday, and the stock market damage continued on Wednesday. “Presidential primary politics,” said Evercore ISI analyst Michael Newshel, are “more in focus than fundamentals.”
New billing practices at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG) could ease the financial burdens of patients seeking care at the community hospital — 94% of whom are uninsured or covered by Medicare or Medi-Cal, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
Uniontown Hospital has put a $32 million campus upgrade on hold for financial reasons as it works through how to move on from a partnership with health system giant UPMC. In an April 2 memo to employees, CEO Steve Handy said the construction delay — which included work on a three-story parking garage, patient and visitor area and other upgrades — would last between 18 to 24 months.
Major U.S. stock indexes are marching to new highs, despite getting little help from the S&P 500’s best-performing sector last year: health care. Health care is the worst-performing sector in the S&P 500 so far this year, with shares up 3.8% compared with the broader index’s 16% gain.