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Five To Save | What's The Deal With Mergers? | Dec. 10, 2018

A guide to what the Mega-Mergers Mean For You.

We're asking the hard questions at Z5 this week. Questions no one dares ask. Questions such as: "Are mergers, like, good, or...?"

Whether you've been paying close attention or barely any at all, you'll probably have caught some of the gigantic healthcare merger stories from this year. We reported on healthcare companies joining forces no fewer than five times since last January. (Remarkably on-brand.)

So the question remains: are giant companies getting giant-er actually a good thing? 

That's for the experts to tell us.

  1. CHI's merger with Dignity has been approved by both companies and the Vatican, but the state of California has some conditions before it signs off.
  2. How does something like that happen? It turns out there are a number of common pitfalls in joining two gargantuan corporations. Here are some tips to avoid them.
  3. And you'll need to mind your Ps and Qs if you're planning a merger for next year, because it looks like Congress might want to make regulation on mergers even more strict.
  4. How do you keep all your newly-united hospitals dancing to the same beat? Try across-the-board standardization.*
  5. And you should probably refocus your supply chain on providing value and staying accountable to it. (If we don't share an article like that with you, we basically aren't doing our jobs.)

 

* You might want to take McKesson's article with a grain or two of salt. It is, after all, a company putting forth its own ideas in a journalistic setting to appear impartial and expert. Who does that, right?

 

That's it for this edition! PLEASE comment below, email us, etc. Tell us what you liked. What was helpful. What you’d like to see more of. 

 

Headline photo via Z5.

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