Happy 12th birthday to the Health Business Blog

The Health Business Blog has turned 12 years old! Continuing a tradition I established with birthdays one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and eleven I have picked out a favorite post from each month. Thanks for continuing to read the blog!March 2016: Health Wonk Review -Tales of the TrumpMy roundup of policy posts from the blogosphere took Trump seriously and literally.April 2016: Listen app - ResApp diagnoses respiratory ailmentsAn Australian company developed a smartphone app to diagnose respiratory diseases by analyzing the sound signatures of coughs. I interviewed the CEO, Dr. Tony Keating via email.May 2016: Biosimilars are "me-too" drugs, not genericsReturning to a favorite theme, I explain why the biosimilar market will not develop the way the generic drug market did. If we instead think about biosimilars as me-too drugs it will help in devising policy solutions.June 2016: Amazon Echo for healthcareI bought an Amazon Echo and could immediately see the potential in healthcare for a hands-free, voice activated device that could be used at home and in the hospital. I wasn't surprised to see that my friends at Boston Children's were already working with the Echo.July 2016: Sutter's Dr. David K. Butler on EMR-enabled transformationDr. Butler came to healthcare as a digital native, unwilling to accept the paper-based status quo. In about a decade he went from using Microsoft Word to make medical notes legible to being named Epic Systems Physician of the Year for his contributions to the field of EMR implementation and optimization. I recorded this podcast interview with him.August 2016: EpiPen may still be too cheapI'm not usually a glutton for punishment, but I thought it was worth taking a beating to make some points that went against the conventional wisdom. An EpiPen isn't just a few dollars of generic drug and a syringe. It's a whole system that enables children and adults with life-threatening allergies to live normal lives.September 2016: Are men comfortable with female physicians? Other factors to considerAn athenahealth analysis demonstrated that men are less likely to return to female physicians than to males, but for female patients the sex of their doctor doesn't make a difference. I shared my own anecdotal experience in primary care to help answer the riddle.October 2016: Why I'm voting against marijuana legalization in MassachusettsAfter recovering from the EpiPen smackdown, I shared another unpopular view: let's not rush into the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes.  Legalization passed pretty easily despite my post, but implementation may proceed slowly especially if the federal government decides to step in.November 2016: Goodbye Obamacare? More like hello single payer!President-elect Trump told 60 Minutes, “I am going to take care of everybody. Everybody’s going to be taken care of much better than they’re taken care of now.” He also promised to provide “quality, reliable, affordable health care.”I said I'd support him if managed to do so, but it was much more likely that the GOP would implement a number of lame ideas they have been kicking around. Looks like I'm right so far.December 2016: Would an FDA radical make any real difference?The Trump Administration started nominating proponents of radical change. I argued that even if the FDA loosened up requirements considerably, it still wouldn't make much of a difference. Payers won't pay for drugs unless they are persuaded that they work. And patients want safe medicines. Pharma companies would still need to satisfy these groups even if the FDA got out of the way.January 2017: Medicaid block grants would be ok for MassachusettsI don't think it's a good idea to shift to block grants, because it will likely result in people losing coverage and an increase in healthcare disparities. Nevertheless, block grants would have a more modest impact on Massachusetts than on other states.February 2017: Due diligence in middle market healthcare M&A. The boutique consulting firm advantageIn case you couldn't guess, I don't make a living from writing this blog! In this post I explain why boutique consulting firms such as my own Health Business Group are so good at commercial due diligence for private equity investors and strategic acquirers.

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By healthcare business consultant David E. Williams, president of Health Business Group.