Hospitals and health systems face an array of compounding pressures. Chief among these is a shift to population health and value-based care models that require health systems to not only continue to make investments in information technology, administration and care, but also take on additional financial risk.…
As 2017 comes to an end, we thought it would be helpful to The Governance Institute membership to provide some observations regarding the state of health system merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, and specifically its impact on independent non-profit hospitals.
First, the industry remains among the most fragmented in the U.S.
Board members of independent hospital companies are in the cross-hairs. They govern during a time of intense industry and societal change. Situated at the center of a national struggle, they contend with front-page news, and tweets, daily. Directors are challenged not only by these major economic and political issues but also by the tremendous volume of day-to-day operational detail involved in running a complex enterprise.…
Membership substitution transactions are the most common form of business combination transaction in the nonprofit hospital industry. They are also widely misunderstood and the source of many mistakes. Many large 501(c)(3)s have become more acquisitive as a result of economic pressures of the ACA.…
In its 2010 Governance Institute white paper, Juniper Advisory described the ownership structure of the hospital industry in anticipation of the impact of healthcare reform and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on hospital consolidation.¹ Leading up to enactment of the ACA, health policy experts had concluded that the U.S.…
The decision to align with another health care organization is among the most important, if not the most important, undertakings for a hospital board. Selecting the right partner, strategy, timing and structure all play important roles in determining the ultimate success of an organization and a partnership.…
The European Union is an affiliation. Unlike a federal government, the United States for example, where members combine into a single sovereign nation, each member state of the EU remains independent. The EU member countries gain a measure of collective strength and influence by ceding control over certain decisions, regulations and institutions to a central authority, but they remain sovereign and free to exit.…
As the delivery of health care continues to evolve and hospitals bear additional pressures to adapt to new payment models, more nonprofit hospitals are partnering with for-profit providers, through a sale, joint venture, or other arrangements.
Partnerships between independent nonprofit hospitals and larger health care systems (nonprofit and for-profit) have been growing over the past two decades.…
In its final season, “Downton Abbey” captured audiences by exploring a healthcare phenomenon set in rural England 100 years ago — and one still playing out across America today.
The phenomenon is hospital consolidation, and historical period drama “Downton Abbey” tackled it with the same gusto with which it took on the deterioration of class hierarchies, the emergence of the women’s liberation movement and many other social issues over six critically acclaimed TV seasons.…
Independent hospitals and small health systems face a daunting challenge in developing their healthcare IT capabilities to meet the requirements of value-based care. But they must carefully weigh their options and proceed cautiously in meeting that challenge.
Health systems that lack the financial wherewithal to develop an electronic health record system on their own, and that are seeking an alternative strategy, should keep in mind five lessons learned by organizations that have faced a similar challenge:
> Review the full range of options.…
Members of the Indian River Medical Center (IRMC) Board of Directors and the Indian River County Hospital District (IRCHD) have selected Cleveland Clinic as [...]
Juniper Advisory’s Barry Sagraves was interviewed for Governing Health, a monthly podcast series hosted by the law firm McDermott Will & Emery. Barry, in [...]
University Health Care System (UHCS), an integrated nonprofit health system based in Augusta, GA, has acquired Trinity Hospital of Augusta (Trinity) from Quorum Health [...]