Rural health providers are increasingly under cyberattack. Enticed by valuable stores of health records and sometimes porous security, hackers infiltrate a hospital’s IT system and encrypt its data, making it unusable until the provider pays a ransom. If the hospital doesn’t pay up, the hackers can sell the data on the dark web to those who use it for ... READ MORE >
Health care jobs market remains tight, government data shows
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey released by the government last week underscored continued tightness in the health care labor market through June. Health care organizations added 60,000 employees, after accounting for employee departures. Total job openings across the ecosystem increased by 10,000. Since 2014, total job openings in health care ... READ MORE >
When addressing nursing shortage, look to your own ranks first
The market for skilled workers, administrators and support staff remains tight in U.S. health care as providers struggle to fill jobs, particularly critical roles such as nurses. The numbers have not appreciably improved since the last time I wrote about this topic: Total health care job openings have remained around 1.1 million to 1.2 million since December ... READ MORE >
Want a fuller picture of biotech’s promise? Look beyond the public markets
A recent Wall Street Journal article highlights the underperformance of the Nasdaq Biotech Index against other benchmarks. The article implies the weak returns are due to a lack of blockbuster biotech therapies; at the same time, the piece underscores the robust private funding activity within the biotech ecosystem. The ecosystem and the capital markets in ... READ MORE >
IMF cuts global growth outlook to lowest since 2009
The International Monetary Fund recently revised downward its forecast for global growth to 3.3 percent from 3.5 percent, the lowest level since 2009. Business executives, advisors, and other leaders must understand the fundamental changes that informed the revision and how those changes may impact their organizations. Before we dig in to the report ... READ MORE >
Biotech needs cash in hesitant market
Life science companies require a cash infusion at least twice as big as that of 2018 to fund research and development at a time when investors remain skittish, according to a Bloomberg analysis. The analysis suggests that over 100 biotech companies, including makers of oncology therapies and treatments for other life-threatening conditions, need to raise ... READ MORE >
Apple Heart Study should not dampen industry view of health tech
On March 16, Stanford researchers released results from the Apple Heart Study; this significant research project relied on data gleaned from some 420,000 adult Americans who agreed to wear an Apple Watch that monitored their cardiac rhythms to identify irregularities. The study, which used an iPhone app to enroll participants, left observers questioning ... READ MORE >
Health care adds 38,600 Jobs in February, but is that enough?
Recent employment releases, while generally positive, belie a systemic problem in the health care labor market: How will health systems, payers and other providers possibly find enough of the right people to deliver the care their patients expect? ADP released its February jobs report earlier on Wednesday. Health care services, which include providers, ... READ MORE >
Better data use has pros and cons for life sciences
The volume and variety of health care data should expand significantly in 2019. Specifically, we will be monitoring growth in data sources outside those collected from traditional electronic health records, including information gleaned from wearable technology and direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Life science companies should consider how best to ... READ MORE >
Medicaid expansion to lift health care in 2019
Four states—Idaho, Nebraska, Utah and Montana— included Medicaid expansion on their ballots in 2018’s midterm elections. Montana’s ballot item was a renewal of expansion, which failed; the three other states saw Medicaid expansion initiatives pass, and we expect health care providers in those states to benefit in 2019. In addition, a few states saw party ... READ MORE >