Another observation is the retention of strong merger and acquisition activity among healthcare systems, with the average size of seller by annual revenue remaining at historically high levels, at just under $400 million in Q3. This was chalked up to the pandemic creating new pathways for deals.

"Some processes that required more careful or rigorous consideration of strategic rationale, or that may have involved parties not as familiar with one another, may require traditional in-person meetings, and are having their timelines impacted,” Anu Singh, M&A practices leader and managing director at Kaufman Hall, told HCB News earlier this month. “In other contexts, where the path to alignment, common view of strategic vision and/or an underlying set of relationships were present or easy to coalesce around, avenues like Zoom and other video formats have allowed for partnerships to flourish and even surpass timelines of more traditional processes."

Hospital executives expect digital and ambulatory strategies to grow in significance, with 31% already seeing more consumers seeking care from retail-based clinics, such as CVS or Walgreens. In addition, respondents are seeing new levels of collaboration among different parts of health systems, yielded returns on pre-pandemic investments in data and analytics, and stronger hospital relationships with schools, local and state governments, and community organizations.

Responses came from a nationwide survey issued in August 2020, with 96% from hospitals or health systems. The majority of respondents were executive leadership (55%) or finance roles (39%).

Back to HCB News

Business Affairs Homepage