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 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.
Joe Carlson
Senior Researcher
Joe is a Senior Healthcare Researcher at Blue Heron. Previously, he spent 20 years as a staff reporter at various publications, including seven years covering medical technology companies for The Star Tribune of Minneapolis and six years covering health systems and legal affairs for Modern Healthcare magazine in Chicago. Joe’s investigative stories have received numerous awards and honors from organizations including the Association of Health Care Journalists, the National Institute for Health Care Management, and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. His coverage of healthcare and the medical technology industry led to awards for best business story in Minnesota for three of his seven years at The Star Tribune.
Ruth Trego
Training and Education Leader, Healthcare
Ruth Trego is Healthcare Training and Education Leader and Deputy Director of Editors at Blue Heron. She was previously a writing instructor at the secondary level in Casablanca, Morocco, and at the post-secondary level at the University of Miami. Additionally, she has served as the managing editor of a quarterly academic magazine and was a research fellow for a cross-disciplinary University of Miami team studying the spread of extremist conspiracy theories on social media. Ruth holds a doctorate in English from the University of Miami.
Tanya Lewis
Senior Researcher
Tanya is a Senior Healthcare Researcher at Blue Heron. As a journalist, she previously wrote about healthcare for business audiences for several Haymarket Media Group business publications, including Medical Marketing & Media. For more than 15 years, she covered some of healthcare’s most visionary and successful leaders and tracked market dynamics from pipelines to patent cliffs. She also reported on the impacts of technology on the business of healthcare, including communications, policy, access, data, and commercialization. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.