Monthly Archives: November 2010

You Call That Crazy? Adventures in Ventureland

Posted on November 26, 2010 by
Is it a Bird, A Plane? No, It's Superfish!

On November 22, 2010 Business Insider published a list of what it deemed to be the 10 Craziest Start-up Ideas of All Time.  There were some pretty entertaining ones on the list.  The best one in my view is Game Crush (motto: it’s time to spice up your game!), which lets you pay $0.60 a minute to play Xbox Live games with hot women. According to the article you can rate your ‘PlayDates’ based on ‘hotness’, ‘gaming skill’, and ‘flirtiness’ to “ensure the cream rises to the top” (whatever that means).  Sounds like nerd paradise.  Apparently it even got funded. The VC world has a pretty high nerd: normal person ratio, so I guess that should not surprise me.

On the list of 10 Crazy Ideas there was only one healthcare-related idea.  Considering that healthcare makes up almost 20% of the GDP, you would think that this type of list would have greater healthcare representation.  And frankly, the healthcare idea picked for the list is really not so crazy.  It’s called Withings, and it is basically a scale with built-in wifi so it can communicate your weight to … (read the rest)

Posted in Health and Wellness, Healthcare, Healthcare Information Technology, Healthcare Venture Capital, Medical Devices, Uncategorized, Venture Capital | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Forward into the Breach

Posted on November 23, 2010 by
Hey, wanna hear about my colonscopy?

“The fantastic advances in the field of electronic communication constitute a greater danger to the privacy of the individual” 1963 quote from Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren.

I moderated a panel last week for Xconomy that was focused on consumer-oriented healthcare information technology.  The panel included 2 hospital chief information officers (one current, one former) and two healthcare IT company executives.  The panel itself was preceded by a presentation from Dr. Kevin Patrick, a preventive medicine specialist at UC San Diego and director of the Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology.  Dr. Patrick talked about many things, but among them was a program he is leading that relies on Facebook to support individuals’ weight loss goals.  By engaging ones friends and friends-of-friends, goes the theory, one can more effectively stay on track with a weight loss program and work to prevent the scourge of Type II diabetes, among other problems.  Dr. Patrick hypothesized that this approach could work with other health-related areas beyond weight management.

In fact, there are already companies trying to cash in on this approach, including … (read the rest)

Posted in Healthcare, Healthcare Information Technology, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Reform, Healthcare Venture Capital, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Never Eat More Than You Can Lift

Posted on November 17, 2010 by
Can I Help You...to an Ambulance?

Never Eat More Thank You Can Lift;  that’s a quote from Miss Piggy and how appropriate to this particular missive.

Some of you may recall my Baconator post from back in July; it is one of my most popular posts and people continue to read it regularly.  But I must say that I am feeling very insecure about that post now as I clearly missed the big story.  Compared to what you can order up at the Heart Attack Grill in Phoenix, AZ, the Baconator is decidedly so last year (or maybe so last meal).

My friend and assistant, also named Lisa, pointed out this article to me, which profiles John Basso and his cardiology themed restaurant.  The Rainforest Café has jungle animals, the Hard Rock Café has guitars, and the Heart Attack Grill has portable defibrillators, diners dressed in hospital gowns and waitresses dressed as naughty nurses (that in itself might give some patrons a heart attack).  They give child diners candy cigarettes to go with their meals.  Nice touch.  I’m guessing that even the Marlboro Man would be impressed by that level of chutzpah.

The signature meal at … (read the rest)

Posted in Health and Wellness, Healthcare, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Reform, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Nothing Like Nice Press

Posted on November 17, 2010 by

Investor’s Business Daily wrote and ran a nice background piece on my venture firm, Psilos Group, including some thoughts on portfolio company Patient Safe Solutions.  Thought I’d share it despite the flagrant self-promotion.  Click HERE to read the article, which appeared November 16, 2010.

… (read the rest)

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We Must Remember This

Posted on November 14, 2010 by

In the last several weeks I lost my phone (recovered), my iPod (gone) and even a piece of jewelry (I am pretty sure the cat is guilty).  I was at the airport when I couldn’t remember where I parked my car for long enough to wonder if I actually did drive myself there.  Don’t judge me; I know you do it too.  I have a certain relative who would have 25% more free time if only he didn’t constantly forget where he left his pen.

All of us are prone to losing objects and forgetting appointments and struggling for that word on the tip of our tongue that we definitely should know.  Sometimes we even forget the names of people who live in our house just for a second; admit it:  how many times have you called your kid by the dog’s name?  “Hey Fluffy—set the table!”  Kids hate that, by the way.

Those momentary lapses of memory can be amusing or frustrating, but they usually don’t slow us down much.  We laugh it off and say, “wow, I must be getting old” and move on to the next task.  … (read the rest)

Posted in Health and Wellness, Healthcare, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Reform, Healthcare Venture Capital, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Welcome To Your HIT Parade

Posted on November 11, 2010 by
hit parade

The Cleveland Clinic recently published an annual Top 10 list of what their leadership believes to be the most significant advances in medicine in each of the last five years.  In 2007-2008 all of the items on the top 10 lists were either medical devices, clinical diagnostics,pharmaceutical or biotech products.  These sectors were basically the Beatles of medicine, while healthcare information technology was more like the indie group Florence + the Machine:  intriguing, but not likely to be called out on the Billboard Top 10 (or make Cleveland’s own Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) in the immediate future.

Interestingly, healthcare information technology (HIT) applications began to sneak their way onto the Cleveland Clinic Top 10 list over the last two years.  In 2009-2010 HIT barely made it, coming in at number 10 in both years.  In contrast to all previous years, however, there it was.  HIT had made it to the list representing 10% of what one of the nation’s most prestigious medical institutions calls the most significant up-and-coming technologies that can have the biggest impact on health care.  In 2011 HIT was number 6 with a bullet, moving … (read the rest)

Posted in Healthcare, Healthcare Information Technology, Healthcare Venture Capital, Medical Devices, Uncategorized, Venture Capital | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Reply Hazy, Try Again

Posted on November 9, 2010 by
hazy-1

Back in September 2010  I wrote about the controversies associated with home-based genetic testing companies and their products.  This topic remains much in the news, as the FDA has declared their intent to regulate these products and several companies have withdrawn from the direct-to-consumer market.  Reuters reported this week that in a survey of over a 1000 people who used direct-to consumer genetic testing, the majority found the tests easy to interpret, but some do not fully understand their results.  For ¾ of the users of these highly controversial tests, their motivation to use them was to find out something new about their genetic makeup to help them make health improvements.

According to the article, “Testing companies say the tests are useful for modifying bad habits that could contribute to future health risks, especially if someone is predisposed to disease” and that,  “more than a third of people [surveyed] said they were being more careful about their diet as a result of getting the tests, 15 percent had changed their medications or diet supplements and 14 percent were exercising more.”

The question for me is whether these tests and … (read the rest)

Posted in Health and Wellness, Healthcare, Random Thoughts of the Day | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Gentlemen, Start Your Checkbooks!

Posted on November 5, 2010 by
Just the donuts, ma'am!

I read this week that a Sunset Hill, Missouri children’s dentist office paid its young patients for their Halloween candy. Starting November 1, Pediatric Dentistry of Sunset Hills has been giving kids a dollar for every pound of candy they turn in. As of November 4th they had collected 13-hundred pounds of sweets.  Their plan is to send the candy to troops overseas.  Sounds like a way of shifting dental insurance costs from Aetna and Blue Cross to Tricare!

Anyway, this got me thinking; maybe we should try this strategy with other scourges of the healthcare world, for instance:

  • Pulmonologists could pay patients to bring in their cigarettes and we could turn around and send those cigarettes to the troops who are fighting against us in Afghanistan.  Might not be a quick means to the end of the war, but it will work eventually!
  • Endocrinologists could pay patients to turn in donuts and we could turn around and send those donuts to the deserving police officers that really need them.
  • Hepatologists could reimburse patients who bring in bottles of Jack Daniels and we could turn around and ship those to

    • … (read the rest)

Posted in Health and Wellness, Healthcare, Healthcare Reform, Healthcare Venture Capital | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Orange is the New Black

Posted on November 4, 2010 by

It is early November and that means it is time to deal with the fall-out from the pivotal races that took place in the days and weeks leading up to early this week. Of course by this I mean that we should all be celebrating the SF Giants’ devastating annihilation of the Texas Rangers.  1 million people showed up for their victory parade yesterday in SF.  Go Orange and Black!

And speaking of pivotal races that end with winners that are primarily orange, John Boehner is our new Speaker-elect of the House of Representatives.  One of the first things out of Boehner’s mouth after the election was “The American people are concerned about the government takeover of health care. I think it’s important for us to lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this monstrosity.”    He was, of course, referring to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that became law this year and promised sweeping changes in our country’s approach to providing health insurance.

After a few months where the focus had moved squarely away from health reform and towards the election, jobs and taxes, healthcare … (read the rest)

Posted in Health and Wellness, Healthcare, Healthcare Information Technology, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Reform, Healthcare Venture Capital, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment