This lecture I'm going to talk about mergers and acquisitions in healthcare.

And the reason is, if you assume that the seismic shift in healthcare is mostly about Obamacare,

I think you are not seeing the large part of the picture.

A more paramount transformational element is the wave of acquisitions taking place.

Now, why is this happening?

One could argue that the Affordable Care Act spurred mergers by adding pressure to cut costs,

but it most likely only sped up the inevitable.

No matter what health care transition was destined to happen, cost cutting was going to be part of the plan.

Now needless to say, most remain skeptical that big, powerful, consolidated corporations will

actually cut costs for long.

Acquisition, whether it is a hospital system or a private equity firm or a health plan doing the acquiring allows

for system delivery changes.

It's not always just about market share.

In fact, those acquiring simply for market share will likely fail in the long run.

Those focused on how an acquired population will be managed

have a greater chance for success.

Likewise, if one strategy is forcing higher payments

by increasing size and muscle,

they will lose to those looking to deliver better value,

access, and capability.

At least I hope that's the case. Now, in an attempt to form ambitious

partnerships as a competitive strategy, many large organizations created dedicated merger and

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