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Venture capitalists say cheap is the name of the game

Name Of Game In Health Care: Cheaper, Better, Faster

By Jennifer Rossa
The Wall Street Journal
June 13, 2010

Now that health-care reform legislation has been signed into existence in the U.S., venture investors say they are focused even more intently than before on companies with products that aim to lower the cost of health-care.

Leslie Bottorff, a general partner at Onset Ventures, said she anticipates there will be opportunities to invest in health-care providers, infrastructure, and technology, as they all provide ways to take costs out of the system without affecting how doctors are paid. ā€œYou canā€™t scale doctors,ā€ she said, speaking on a panel at the Dow Jones Limited Partner Summit in New York.

ā€œCheaper, better, faster is absolutely the name of the gameā€ now, Bottorff said.

http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2010/06/23/name-of-game-in-health-care-cheaper-better-faster/

Comment: 

By Don McCanne, MD

So the venture capitalists are lining up ready to invest in companies with products that “aim to lower the cost of health-care.” How many pharmaceutical firms do you suppose are ready to market innovative new inexpensive drugs that will replace their older more costly products? How many medical device companies are ready to market new devices that will cost less and make obsolete their existing products which are highly profitable? But doctors, well you can’t scale them.

The venture capitalists are there for one reason only – to make money, as much as possible. Do they really believe that the pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers don’t have the same goal? Money, money, money. Yeah. Forget about that “cheaper” part.

Venture capitalists say cheap is the name of the game

Name Of Game In Health Care: Cheaper, Better, Faster

By Jennifer Rossa
The Wall Street Journal
June 13, 2010
Now that health-care reform legislation has been signed into existence in the U.S., venture investors say they are focused even more intently than before on companies with products that aim to lower the cost of health-care.
Leslie Bottorff, a general partner at Onset Ventures, said she anticipates there will be opportunities to invest in health-care providers, infrastructure, and technology, as they all provide ways to take costs out of the system without affecting how doctors are paid. ā€œYou canā€™t scale doctors,ā€ she said, speaking on a panel at the Dow Jones Limited Partner Summit in New York.
ā€œCheaper, better, faster is absolutely the name of the gameā€ now, Bottorff said.
http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2010/06/23/name-of-game-in-health-care-cheaper-better-faster/

So the venture capitalists are lining up ready to invest in companies with products that “aim to lower the cost of health-care.” How many pharmaceutical firms do you suppose are ready to market innovative new inexpensive drugs that will replace their older more costly products? How many medical device companies are ready to market new devices that will cost less and make obsolete their existing products which are highly profitable? But doctors, well you can’t scale them.
The venture capitalists are there for one reason only – to make money, as much as possible. Do they really believe that the pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers don’t have the same goal? Money, money, money. Yeah. Forget about that “cheaper” part.