The healthcare industry is continually evolving to better address the needs of people locally and around the world. The way healthcare operates has gone through a lot of changes in the past decade alone and the introduction of new technology has allowed healthcare workers the ability to improve how they provide assistance to people all around. While the healthcare industry changes, medical care systems are actively looking for new ways to grow and be more cost efficient.
One way that healthcare providers consider to help them achieve future goals and improvement is through mergers and acquisitions (M&A), as Stoneridge Partners explains on their website. Mergers are necessary for when healthcare providers are unable to accumulate the resources necessary to provide quality healthcare services on their own. Mergers help providers gain those resources and meet their expected goals. Here are different M&A trends that add to the drive for changes within the healthcare industry.
4 Emerging Healthcare Merger Trends
Focusing on different areas of healthcare
There are different areas of the healthcare industry that investors take a particular interest in. Areas such as in-home care, IT and payment systems, medical machines and equipment as well as behavioral health always tend to catch the eyes of investors. These areas are successful and always evolving, and investors want to reap the rewards of success as well. Mergers are often put into action to allow these areas of healthcare to continue to grow and gain the resources they need.
Increase in demand for elderly care
Another thing to note is that certain aspects of healthcare such as at-home care and retirement homes are on the rise. There is also a discernible increase of elderly patients in need of constant care, whether it is within their own homes or within nursing homes.
Elderly and disabled patients need care provided to them around the clock. With this being the case, these specific aspects of healthcare will bring success to healthcare businesses.
Merger and acquisitions allow healthcare companies to grow even more. They will gain more of the resources and financial support to remain operational and provide high quality care for their patients. To date, many healthcare organizations have undergone mergers within the past several years which again shows the high interest of investors in this sector. As a result, healthcare mergers have actually been setting high records in mergers and overall growth. The merging of CVS Health and Aetna is a prime example of high success rates within growing companies.
Increasing trend of investors being interested in healthcare
Healthcare will always be a topic of great interest for investors looking to undergo merger and acquisition plans. In fact, the healthcare industry remains one of the highest areas of investment. In general, healthcare leads to higher returns on investments compared to other industries. The high levels of M&A occur due to a variety of reasons such as innovation within the healthcare industry and the introduction of new technology. This drives investors to be drawn to the opportunities that the healthcare industry is capable of providing.
With the growth of this technology and the healthcare industry as a whole, investors set their sights on healthcare a majority of the time. They have capability of having the highest yielding opportunities and investors will be able to help healthcare providers financially so they can continue to grow and provide quality healthcare services.
As mentioned, many investors focus on the healthcare industry to carry out M&As because it has a clear record of outperforming other industries. Since healthcare will continue to evolve as time goes on, investors know they are allocating their resources to a reliable source. New technology can be developed and providers can adapt to changes in how the healthcare system operates. Knowing this, investors know they will often receive a positive return on investment. New technologies like Electronic batch record systems can be developed and providers can adapt to changes in how the pharmaceutical and healthcare system operates. Knowing this, investors know they will often receive a positive return on investment.
Investors also find it attractive that they can allocate their resources to many different aspects of healthcare. The distribution of new technology and the rise of at-home care are just two really big aspects of healthcare that have been gaining traction in the past few years. Due to the changes within healthcare within the past year, many healthcare workers have had to adapt and learn new ways of providing care, which meant that the healthcare industry has become more essential than ever as a result. M&As give healthcare companies the push they need to keep thriving.
A focus on data businesses within healthcare
Even the healthcare industry is not immune from the infiltration of tech companies. Many tech companies have become involved in the healthcare industry as well.
A prominent example is Google. Google has had a former FDA Commissioner come onboard the company to help provide direction for Google Health. Also of note is the fact that Google acquired DeepMind, a relatively young UK company that started in 2010. One of DeepMind’s achievements is being able to detect an illness like kidney disease earlier than a physician. This acquisition was not all smooth sailing as some British healthcare providers opposed it.
Conclusion
Mergers and acquisitions definitely have the potential to be beneficial for everyone involved. Investors will know that they have made an excellent decision to invest in successful healthcare companies. Healthcare workers will be able to provide the general public with the healthcare they need on a consistent basis. M&As will ensure that healthcare companies will receive the resources they need to stay in business. By doing so, they can continue to provide high quality care to patients. Many successful companies have merged to grow and improve how they care for their patients.
