Hello,
Welcome to Insider Healthcare. I'm Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer, and this (short) week in healthcare news:
- We traveled to Moderna's labs in Norwood to check out the biotech's work on miniaturizing vaccine development;
- We learned that Amazon has been pitching Amazon Care to health insurers including Aetna;
- We took a look at who owns medical practices these days – and how some insurers are doing it from the start.
If you're new to this newsletter, sign up here. Tips, comments? Email me at [email protected] or tweet @lydiaramsey125. Let's get to it…
Franco Sacchi/Insider
Inside Moderna's labs
Andrew Dunn and Allison DeAngelis traveled out to Norwood, Massachusetts, the site of Moderna's research hub.
There, they learned about Moderna's work with the US government to try and miniaturize vaccine development to the size of a 6-foot cube.
It could speed up development, helping thwart future outbreaks.
Get the full story>>
We got an exclusive look inside Project DART, Moderna's tiny manufacturing project that could have a huge impact on future pandemics
Amazon
Amazon Care is pitching insurers
Amazon's change in CEO wasn't the only big news out of the tech giant this week.
Blake Dodge and Shelby Livingston broke the news that Amazon's medical-care service, Amazon Care, has been talking to health insurers including Aetna about getting coverage.
Doing so would be key for Amazon's healthcare ambitions, and potentially widen the customers it could work with.
Check out our scoop>>
Amazon is trying to persuade Aetna and other health plans to cover its medical-care service, but it stumbled out of the gate
Northwell Health
Who owns medical practices
This week, Shelby looked into how a group of health insurance upstarts are employing doctors from the start.
It's a bid to lower healthcare costs and compete with health insurance giants.
That brings me to some team news - we have a new fellow joining us!
Jade Khatib will be with us for the next six months. They are a student at Northeastern University, and you can find them on Twitter here!
Jade's first story at Insider looks at who's buying up medical practices and doctors. Hospitals, private equity investors, and health insurers own 70% of all doctors in the US, according to a new report.
That has big implications on how much healthcare costs, as well as how it's delivered.
Here's what's playing out>>
Hospitals, big investors, and insurers bought 22,700 doctors during the pandemic in a race that could shape the future of healthcare
Finally, Mohana Ravindranath whipped up a list of 5 healthcare upstarts raising millions to take high-tech primary care to LGBTQ+ people and minorities.
After working on a list of primary care companies looking to change how healthcare is delivered, she focused in on those who were looking to increase access to care to underserved populations.
- Lydia