Growth Investment for IMS

Inpatient Medical Services (IMS), a Midwest outsourced hospitalist management company, serving 150,000 patients annually was acquired by Sverica International.  IMS, founded in 2000 and based in Akron, Ohio partners with hospitals and primary care doctors to improve efficiency, clinical outcomes and transitions of patient care.  Sverica’s investment and operationally-oriented approach is expected to aid IMS in its next growth phase.  >>Read more  

About Time for a PE Spending Spree?

US private equity funds raised $130.1B (326 funds) in the first three quarters of 2012.  Impressive...as this amount nearly matches the capital raised in all of 2011 ($131.5B).  

"Although it's far from easy to raise capital today, more private equity firms have the wind at their backs than [they] did even a year or two ago." said Laura Kreutzer, managing editor of Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst.  

Europe is also enjoying an upswing with a 20% increase in capital raised through the first three quarters of 2012 over last year.  >>Read more    

While current funding continues to be robust, US private equity executives face a ticking clock over funds raised in 2007 and 2008.  Nearly $200B needs to be spent within the next 12 months or it must be given back according to a recent NY Times article "More Money Than They Know What to Do With".

Due to economic uncertainty, there has been a "wait and see" approach to deal making.  However, the looming deadline is prompting a more proactive approach with firms realizing that it’s time to spend...  Clearly, firms are on the trail of the deal, with some engaged in “elephant hunting”, that is, seeking deals worth $10B. Collectively, PE firms have already spent $45B in the third quarter alone according to deal tracking source, Capital IQ. In this environment, Sellers are the Winners...as inflated acquisition prices are a likely result with so much competition for a limited number of deals.  

Keep an eye out for mega deal headlines...and an accelerated pace for deals. 

ATI Bridges East & Midwest with Acquisition

The Motion Hand & Physical Therapy moniker changed on October 1 with its acquisition by ATI Physical Therapy.  The 10-clinic practice increases ATI’s office count to 190 and extends their coverage into Ohio.

“We are especially excited about our expansion into Ohio as it will bridge the geographical gap between our Midwest and East Coast divisions.” according to Greg Steil, ATI CEO.

Dialysis Clinic Platform Formed

Flexpoint Ford, a private equity firm, has formed Corva LLC, a platform focused on acquiring, developing, and operating dialysis clinics. Jerry Simonsen, former CEO of Renal Management Inc., will lead the company which has already acquired Innovative Renal Care – a Houston, Texas-based dialysis center.  Flexpoint plans to invest up to $75 million to support Corva's strategy. 

Corva (www.corvaclinics.com) is headquartered in Greenwood Village, CO (Greater Denver area).  >>Read more

PSS World Medical Sells Specialty Line to PE Firm

PSS World Medical, a medical products distributor to US physicians, reached an agreement to sell their specialty dental business to Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company.  The sale proceeds will be used for future investments in other business lines – Physician, Lab, Dispensing and Hope Care & Hospice.  The transaction is expected to close in October.  >> Read more

EHR Set up...Don't Alienate Your Patients

According to various surveys, 70%-80% of medical practices (double the rate of 3 years ago) are currently implementing an EHR system.  While many view this solely as a technology-focused project, people and ill-defined processes can also derail a smooth implementation.  The AMA outlined some common issues and how to overcome them.  >> Read more

Source:  amednews.com (American Medical News)

Selling Practice to a Hospital?...Read this First!

As with any business sale, it’s incumbent on the seller to think long and hard before signing on the dotted line.  In a recent article, "What Physicians Should Know Before Selling Their Practice to a Hospital," Lucia Francesca Bruno, J.D., LL.M., M.B.A. offers a rundown of critical considerations for physicians.

Source:  Physician News Digest

Got Ideas?

Last week we highlighted some ideas generated in brainstorming sessions at the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Innovation conference.  With idea in hand...or on sticky note, as it may be,  what’s the next step?  Enter...Society of Physician Entrepreneurs. 

This professional group offers “a networking and education platform for healthcare providers who want to commercialize their innovations” according to Jeffrey N. Hausfeld, a co-founding member of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs.  The group, a physician led non-profit member organization (www.sopenet.org), has a LinkedIn group site.  It was founded in 2011 and expects to exceed 5000 members in 20 chapters by year end. 

SoPe’s assistance and guidance (education, networking, funding) primarily benefits entrepreneurs focused in the following areas:

1. Devices, Drugs and Diagnostics -- utilized in patient care or marketed direct to consumer
2. Medical Services -- addressing cost, efficiency, quality, availability 
3. Health care IT and Telemedicine Products and Services

 

71 Out-of-the-Box Health Care Ideas

Transform, a conference focused on innovation in health care delivery and experience was sponsored by Mayo Clinic’s Center for Innovation this past week.  

>>See more ideas

Throughout the conference, attendees were encouraged to share their ideas on    "How to make health care better"...  
Here's a sampling of ideas:

• Let me text my doctor    
• Stop overworking health care providers with nonpatient-centered tasks   
• Make insurance companies nonprofit   
• Have a global online marketplace (like Amazon) 
• Create a common health language 

Source:  MedCity News

Mayo Clinic’s Center for Innovation is like a giant incubator.  The center nurtures new ideas, enabling them to grow and evolve until ready for patients.  Learn more about a few of their projects:  Dermatology Practice Redesign and eConsults

HC Consumers Value Expertise...Want Comparison Tool

The latest survey focusing on customer experience and healthcare providers was completed in July by Harris Interactive.  The online poll asked more than 2,300 US adults about their preferences and decision-making process when making doctor’s appointments.  

While a substantial number of respondents expressed satisfaction with their last medical visit, the study revealed that 62% identified a consumer “want” not readily fulfilled - an online estimator of physician costs.  MedCity News reports that in addition to the comparison tools supported by insurance companies, third party companies have started to fill the void.  MD Clarity assists doctors analyze health care service pricing while Castlight Health aids consumers.  >>Read more

Other key offerings desired by study respondents include:  Online medical access, proactive communication from doctors.  >>View Harris findings

Dermatology EMR Adding Specialties

What's your time worth?...is the question posed by the developers of an EMR for dermatologists.  

The highly fragmented EMR market boats 1,000 options.  EMR developer Modernizing Medicine has focused its Electronic Medical Assistant (EMA) on visual-oriented specialties that lend themselves to a touch-based platform.  Preferring the “big fish, small pond” approach, their EMA development path focused on covering small and midsized specialty practices.  First offerings covered dermatology, ophthalmology and optometry.  This fall products for plastic and orthopedic surgeons will be introduced. 

>> Read more, View EMA demo

Modernizing Medicine co-founder and chief medical officer Micheal Sherling, a practicing dermatologist, said their number one goal for EMA is to save doctors time and, as a result, money.

Source:  MedCity News

Where is the Money Going?

Today, the media is buzzing about the latest Institute of Medicine report - The Healthcare Imperative:  Lowering Costs and Improving Outcomes addressing US healthcare spending.  Checkout the infographic that highlights the report's issues and opportunities. 
Source:  Institute of Medicine

Retail Clinic Visits Up Four-Fold

American consumers have apparently enjoyed the convenience of retail clinics since they began appearing in pharmacies, supermarkets and malls in 2000.

A follow-up study recently released by Health Affairs provides an indication of the growth of patient visits to US retail clinics.  Using data from the 3 largest clinic operators (Minute Clinic, Take Care, Little Clinic), the study reveals that customer retail visits between 2007-2009 grew from 1.48M to 5.97M.  

Other findings include:

• 64.5% did not have a primary care physician 
• Majority of customers had insurance (70.5%) 
• 44.4% of visits occurred when physician offices were closed 
• Visits by age 64+ customers doubled vs. the initial study  

 According to study co-authors, Ateev Mehrotra and Judith Lave:

“It will be interesting to track demand at retail clinics after the Affordable Care Act is implemented…if wait times for appointments with primary care physicians increase nationwide, demand for the clinics might increase.”

Source:   Health Affairs blog, Chris Fleming

Urgent Care Update...

-Alliance Urgent Care to be Acquired

-Concentra Expands Footprint in KY

Capital Group Holdings announced that it will acquire privately owned Alliance Urgent Care, an organization operating six clinics in the greater Phoenix, AZ area.  Alliance will be renamed OneHealth Urgent Care to be consistent with the branding of Capital Group's telehealth subsidiary, OneHealthPass ™ (OHP).  OHP is designed to become an industry standard telehealth platform for the management and administration of patient-centric telemedicine programs.  Dr. Michael Blumhoff, Alliance CEO, will continue as CEO of the OHP Urgent Care group once the deal is finalized. -->  >>Read more

Urgent Treatment Clinics (UTC) with seven medical centers in the Lexington, KY area is Concentra's latest acquisition.  The Urgent Treatment Clinic name will be preserved according to Concentra, the national provider of urgent care services and subsidiary of Humana, Inc.  Former UTC owners, Dr. Fadi Bacha and Dr. Larry Burns, have been retained by Concentra and will continue providing patient care to residents of Lexington and its surrounding communities.  >>Read more 

CompHealth Sizes Up Merger Activity

Monday's announcement that Aetna will buy Coventry Health Care underscores the trend in health care consolidation.  CompHealth, a Salt Lake City-based health care staffing firm, offers an interesting visual to illustrate the industry's merger activity based on a 2011 survey.  >>View: Healthy Growth?

Some of the findings for 2012:

• 75% of hospitals and health systems considering merger or acquisition
• 52% of merger deals valued < $50M
• Top reason for deal cancellation:  Culture Incompatibility

Source:  EMR Daily News

More Consolidation to Boost Govt Share

On the heels of the Wellpoint acquisition announcement of Amerigroup, Aetna has agreed to buy Coventry Health Care Inc. in a deal expected to close mid-2013.

"Integrating Coventry into Aetna will complement our strategy to expand our core insurance business, increase our presence in the fast-growing government sector and expand our relationships with providers in local geographies," according to Mark T. Bertolini, Aetna's chief executive.

The acquisition is expected to increase Aetna's share of government business to more than 30% from 23%.  >>Read more

U.S. HealthWorks Acquired by Dignity

U.S. HealthWorks Medical Group, the largest independent operator of occupational health & urgent care centers, was acquired by Dignity Health, formerly Catholic Healthcare West.  

U.S. HealthWorks which operates 172 centers in 16 states was previously a portfolio company of Altaris Capital Partners and Three Arch Partners.  It will be a wholly owned for-profit unit of Dignity.  

As the nation’s fifth largest hospital chain, the acquisition jumpstarts Dignity’s efforts to extend its reach beyond California, Arizona and Nevada to a national level.

How Does Health Care Compare to...?

A recent PriceWaterhouse Coopers report suggests that several service industries are shaping health care consumer expectations. Whether it's better use of technology or customer service strategies, non-health care service sectors (e.g.:  Retail, Banking, Hospitality) have the edge.  Case in point:

Source:  Health Research Institute, PwC 

Introducing...Orthopedic Urgent Care Centers

In the hope of increasing immediate care and decreasing health care costs, Florida-based Dr. Alejandro Badia developed and launched OrthoNow, a franchised orthopedic care center.  Centers will address emergency orthopedic needs and send injured patients to an adjacent ambulatory surgery center for treatment.  

Frustrated by a system resulting in "delays in referrals, incorrect dates and wasted tests", Dr. Badia sought a more efficient approach to orthopedic health care delivery. Dr. Badia, CEO of OrthoNow, envisions secure data sharing across the network to establish benchmarks, measure performance and identify paths for improvement.  Additionally, aggregated clinic data could prove beneficial in reviewing critical business aspects.  >>Read more

6 Niche Markets for Telemedicine

Expansion of telemedicine programs at the federal, state and local level continues with the market forecasted by Pike & Fischer to reach $3.6B by 2014, up over 300% from the 2009 level.  Recently introduced legislation, the “Veterans E-Health & Telemedicine Support” (VETS) Act of 2012” (H.R.6107), aims to increase veteran health care access as the bill expands the current VA state licensure exemption.  
While telemedicine works its way into primary care, it has gained acceptance in a number of medical specialties:

Radiology – most established telemedicine niche

Dermatology – mirrors system used by teleradiology

Behavioral Health – leverages technology to aid returning soldiers

Correctional Health Care – means to cut costs

Ocular Health – used for screenings for diabetic retinopathy

Pediatric Sub-specialties – helpful for underserved patient populations

Source:  MedCity News - Stephanie Baum  >>Read more