Healthcare
The healthcare sector has never been more dynamic. Innovative new technologies and business models are delivering better outcomes for patients and huge value to healthcare providers and investors alike. The opportunities are immense – but so are the risks. That’s why our due diligence research is so valuable to healthcare investors.
Demystifying a complex, ever-changing industry
Blue Heron’s healthcare team comprises former journalists with decades of combined experience covering the healthcare industry and writing for such publications as BusinessWeek, Modern Healthcare, The Washington Post, The British Medical Journal, and Medical Marketing & Media.
Over the past five years, the healthcare team has conducted hundreds of diligence projects examining a broad range of companies, leaders, conditions, and risks. Does the existing leadership team at a popular new services roll-up have what it takes to drive growth? Can the R&D team at an up-and-coming biotech develop a robust pipeline? Is an emergent medical technology or model capable of securing high adoption and reimbursement rates? Blue Heron’s healthcare researchers unearth the answers to questions like these with energy, precision, and nuance.
Recent areas of research
Pharmaceuticals
Biotech, manufacturing, distribution
Digital health
AI, genomics, EHRs, informatics, wearables
Healthcare services
Doctors, dentists, surgeons, vets
Health systems
Hospitals, outpatient care, roll-ups
Health payments
Insurers, PBMs, employee benefits
Health device spinoff
When a multinational health device company spun off its consumer division, Blue Heron investigated the ability of the new CEO to refocus the remaining legacy enterprise.
Pharmaceutical setbacks
During an investigation into the new CEO of a major biopharma company, Blue Heron researched challenges the company faced, including setbacks during development of its marquee neurological disorder drug.
Surgical roll-up
In a seemingly routine check of the leadership of a proposed health services roll-up, Blue Heron discovered numerous lapses by leadership, including unqualified medical staffing.
Regulatory lapses
While analyzing a pharma company, Blue Heron found evidence that the company’s sales culture led to global regulatory lapses. Blue Heron helped estimate cleanup prospects and the revenue hit.
Meet our healthcare team
Keith Epstein
Sector Leader, Healthcare
Keith is Healthcare Sector Leader and a Healthcare Senior Researcher at Blue Heron with a focus on pharma and biotech, health technology, and health services and systems. He has been a strategic intelligence and business advisor and served on the global investigative team at Businessweek. He was also executive editor of The Huffington Post Investigative Fund, and at AARP he guided entrepreneurs and top executives of one of the nation's largest nonprofits with actionable intelligence on risks and health-related investment opportunities. His articles and investigations have appeared in newspapers and magazines including The Washington Post, CIO Insight, Congressional Quarterly, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Discover, and The British Medical Journal.
Hope Norman
Director of Researchers
Hope is Director of Researchers at Blue Heron. She previously spent four years as a researcher at OTR Global and, prior to that, was a manager at Covance, a leading biopharmaceutical clinical research organization. She developed and managed programs that preserve insurance coverage and improve patient access. She also developed tech-based solutions to assist with complex coding and reimbursement issues for various settings of care, implemented patient access programs, addressed payer issues, and conducted reimbursement trainings. Hope has a master’s degree in social welfare from UCLA.