Hospital M&A Today: What We’re Seeing, Where We’re Going

Chicago partner Neil Olderman recently authored “Hospital M&A today: What we’re seeing, where we’re going” for the Healthcare Purchasing News blog. In this post, the first of a two-part series about the changing health care supply chain, Neil examines how increased consolidation of hospitals and health systems will affect the supply chain across the industry.

Neil explains that upon the closing of a sale or merger, the savings and efficiencies in the supply chain becomes one of several key areas that draw significant attention as a part of the integration strategy. He states, “Consolidation has the potential to make the supply chain better and more efficient. Combinations tend to present opportunities to revisit staffing, standardization, system-wide policies on sourcing, purchasing and distribution.”

With consolidation unlikely to slow down any time soon, we anticipate even larger and more coordinated systems in the marketplace. Neil predicts that this growth will lead to more disciplined purchasing behavior, the enhancement of data quality and data analytic capabilities and, ultimately, the need and desire to pursue greater accountability in the supply chain.