Skip to main content
  • Search
    Close Search
  • Careers
  • Support
  • 1.800.873.9426
DataBank DataBank
Menu
  • Industries and Functions
    • Industries
      • Public Sector
      • Healthcare
      • Energy
      • Manufacturing
      • Financial Services
      • Retail
      • Insurance
      • Education
    • Functions
      • Logistics
      • Finance & Accounting
      • Human Capital Management
      • Mailroom
      • Fraud, Waste & Abuse
  • Services
    • Change Leadership
      • Process Improvement
      • Strategic Planning
      • Organizational Change Management
    • Data Intake
      • Document Scanning
      • Data Capture & Extraction
      • User-Facing Forms
    • Data Refinement
      • Data Structuring
      • Classification
      • Insight Mining
      • Content Intelligence
      • Data Migrations
      • System Integrations
    • Data Management
      • Content Services
      • Data Warehouses
      • Hosting
    • Data Activation
      • Workflow
      • Advanced Analytics
      • Business Intelligence
      • AI and Machine Learning
      • Robotic Process Automation
    • Amplification Services
      • OnBase Engagement Models
      • OnBase Engagement Models
        • Amplify Your OnBase Teams
        • OnBase Engagement Models
        • AssistOn-demand tasks to keep the lights on
        • AdminProactive support and monitoring
        • AccelerateFully-loaded systems administration and development
      • Managed Hosting
      • Benefits by Job Title
      • Get a Consultation
    • The DataBank Cloud
      • Comprehensive Features
      • Comprehensive Features
        • Flexible Hosting for OnBase
        • Monitoring & Maintenance
        • Managed Infrastructure
        • Dedicated Cloud Team
        • All-In Pricing
      • Cloud Security
      • Your Roadmap to the Cloud
  • Use Cases
    • Interconnect Your Organization
    • Improve Cash Flow
    • Create Usable Structured Data
    • Consolidate Systems
    • Enable Sustainable Remote Work
    • Use Data for Decision-Making
    • Internal Process Adoption
    • Enhance Customer Experience
    • Eliminate Paper Processes
  • Partner Network
    • Hyland
    • Nintex
    • KnowledgeLake
    • Eco-Mail
    • Esker
    • Kyocera
    • iTreatMD
    • Digitech
    • DocuSign
    • Microsoft 365/SharePoint
    • Bottomline
    • Amazon Web Services (AWS)
    • Azure
  • About
    • Why DataBank
      • Our Process
      • Industry Experts
      • Support
      • Security
    • Locations
      • Corporate Locations
      • Data Management Centers
      • Remote Communities
    • Culture
      • Our People
      • Core Values
  • Learning
    • OnBase Camp
      • Courses
      • Badges
      • Trail Mix
    • Insights
  • Connect With An Expert
DataBank
Close

Mergers & Acquisitions: How Your Health System Can Enable Interoperability Throughout the Entire Network

By Dana Brown

August 9, 2021

Healthcare , Insights , Article , Data Management

Share  

View All Insights

A recent analysis by Avalere Health and the Physicians Advocacy Institute (PAI) found that from July 2016 – July 2018, United States hospitals have acquired approximately 8,000 physicians’ practices nationwide. On top of the 5,000 physicians’ practices acquisitions from July 2015-2016, this number is up over 128% year over year from where healthcare was, as an industry, only 5 years ago.

 

Why are hospitals buying physicians’ practices?

As patients continue to move toward more affordable, accessible treatment options, hospitals are starting to shift their investments toward outpatient centers to keep up with market demands, preserve their patient populations, and maintain their revenue streams. Unlike hospitals, outpatient facilities such as urgent care clinics, ambulatory centers, or doctors’ offices, are smaller and generally focus on a single specialty. This allows them to provide their patients with more flexibility and improved value-based care.

 

Large-scale mergers and acquisitions have already begun to transform the healthcare industry. Acquiring physicians’ practices is a method health systems use to reduce their overall costs and increase their market share. This transformation is happening at a fast clip. In 2012, it was estimated that only about 35,000 practices were affiliated with a larger healthcare enterprise which has since jumped to over 80,000 practices by the start of 2018. Robust acquisition activity is underway and will only continue to increase.

 

How does this impact physicians and their patients?

Acquiring private practices makes sense for larger health systems as they tend to have deeper pockets and a much larger reach than the individual doctor. However, acquisitions are even more beneficial to the clinicians and the patients they serve than they are to the larger enterprises. Hospital-owned physicians’ practices have a much easier time with referrals as they are able to easily send patients to an in-network hospital or ambulatory center for lab work, x-rays, or specialist consultation.

 

Keeping patients and procedures within the same health network leads to lower patient costs and reduces the chance of providing duplicate services or overlooking symptoms of a medical condition. Staying within the network also provides many patients with peace of mind that they’ll remain within trusted, confident hands and that they will always have access to the highest quality treatments and care.

 

More locations, more data to manage

As healthcare systems continue to acquire more hospitals and outpatient facilities, the opportunity for networked physicians to improve the quality of care by streamlining patient records and healthcare data is exponential.

 

Most clinicians will agree that the migration to a digital health record environment within an EMR system is the most transformative change to healthcare and patient data management in the past century. In fact, EMRs work best when there’s an opportunity for integration and interoperability. As healthcare enterprise consolidation continues to rise, the ability to share patient information from one physician within a healthcare network to another in a separate department, building, or even state is critical to meeting growing patient expectations and enabling quicker, better care.

Previous Post

Next Post

See more Article insights

Lessons Learned: Strategies for Managing Change in the Remote Workspace

Many plans and priorities were thrown out the window to make room for responding to the pandemic, forcing government agencies across the country to react quickly and implement changes never before seen in government, all while moving employees out of the office to work remotely from the safety of their homes.

READ BLOG.
Why Is It So Challenging to Fill Technical Roles in Government?

Learn the top challenges with hiring in the public sector and how you can easily overcome them. 

READ BLOG
5 Benefits Of Document Scanning In The Pharma World

Pharma companies are now requiring that documents be scanned, digitized, and managed online. Document scanning keeps data safer and more organized.

Read Blog.
Strategic Considerations For Sourcing Reliable, Qualified Technical Talent

Find a consistent and reliable supply of skilled technical talent that helps you prioritize innovation while building happier teams.

READ BLOG
Get the latest DataBank insights directly in your inbox.
Subscribe to our blog
1.800.873.9426
  • The Debrief by DataBank
  • Privacy Policy

© 2023 DataBank

Warning!

You are using an outdated browser. Things may not appear as intended. We recommend updating your browser to the latest version.

Close