Today is World Health Day. The World Health Organization's theme this year, “a fairer, healthier world,” could not be more timely for the United States. President Biden recently released a $2.2 trillion infrastructure plan, which includes a number of initiatives directly or indirectly related to health care, including $100 billion to buildout critical ... READ MORE >
Pandemic recovery signals new ways health care can serve and grow
Health care services are poised to lead the services recovery for the next two years, according to analysis from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Not only will providers benefit from the return of pre-pandemic volumes, but the increasing likelihood of an endemic virus may present new ways for providers to serve their patients and communities. The ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: State disparity in mental health preparedness
We may be dealing with the mental health after-effects of the pandemic long after we’ve reached herd immunity. According to the United States Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, the average share of adults reporting symptoms of anxiety or depression increased to 41.1% in January. That is a nearly fourfold increase from the 11% observed over the ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Health care sector rides the SPAC wave
Amid the recent gyrations in the equity markets, special purpose acquisition companies, better known as SPACs, have continued to gain favor, particularly among retail investors flush with savings. And in the middle of this frenzy is the health care sector. Also known as blank-check companies, SPACs essentially flip the traditional initial public offering ... READ MORE >
This year may be the busiest ever for health care and life sciences deal volume
The annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference kicks off virtually this week. In years past, the event has heralded announcements of large partnerships, joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. This year, the health care sector could not even wait until the second full week of January to kick off an acquisition announcement spree. The quick start is an early ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: As vaccination begins, health care remains underemployed
The pandemic brought about a rare reduction in health care jobs at a time when they are most needed, for both patient care and for the effort to vaccinate millions of Americans against COVID-19. Hospitals reduced headcount by 126,200 jobs last April, which was the largest reduction since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the figure in 1989. The ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Venture capital investment in health tech on track for record year
North American investment in venture capital-backed health technology and digital health companies hit a record through the first 10 months of the year, outpacing all of 2019 with two months to go. The total venture capital raised by health tech so far this year reached $12.2 billion, compared with $10.7 billion for all of 2019. Digital health ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Technology investments in health care poised to surge
After years of pouring money into disruptive technologies in the financial services industry, venture capital firms are turning their attention to the health care ecosystem as the pandemic upends traditional ways of delivering health care. On Sept. 29, SCP Co. registered as a special purpose acquisition company aiming to raise $230 million focused on finding ... READ MORE >
While other health care subsectors see job gains, nursing and residential care continues to lag
While the health care ecosystem is broadly returning to work, nursing care facilities remain an exception. In the immediate aftermath of the pandemic and state-wide prohibitions on non-emergent, or elective, procedures the health care ecosystem shed 2.27 million jobs in August, the first broad job loss in health care in decades. Since then, we have seen ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Health care costs rise while tax revenue stagnates
As health care continues to represent a larger portion of U.S. gross domestic product, the federal government's ability to finance that expenditure through tax revenues has relatively declined. Corporate taxes as a percent of GDP peaked at 2.6% in 2007. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis that proportion fell to 1% in 2009 and recovered to 1.9% ... READ MORE >