Health Affairs This Week | What's the deal with hospital mergers?

Listen to Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Jeff Byers talk about the latest data on hospital mergers and why Microsoft is acquiring the health tech firm Nuance Communications.

Show Notes

This week, Microsoft announced a $19-billion deal to acquire Nuance Communications, a health tech firm. It's one of the many recent merger and acquisition deals in the health care space.

On today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Jeff Byers puts on his ex-reporter hat and joins Jessica Bylander to discuss the Nuance-Microsoft deal and review a recent Kaufman Hall report that found hospital merger deals were down in 2020, but still highly valued.

Listen to Jeff and Jessica talk about hospital merger and acquisition trends and what it all means for the future of hospitals.

Related Links:

2020 M&A In Review: COVID-19 As Catalyst For Transformation (Kaufman Hall)
Hospital Prices Grew Substantially Faster Than Physician Prices For Hospital-Based Care in 2007-14 (Health Affairs)
What We Know About Provider Consolidation (Kaiser Family Foundation)
2020 Market Insights Report: Chasing A New Equilibrium (Rock Health)
Consolidation of Providers Into Health Systems Increased Substantially, 2016-18 (Health Affairs)
Reversing Hospital Consolidation: The Promise Of Physician-Owned Hospitals (Health Affairs Blog)

Creators & Guests

Composer

Andrew Barnes

Andrew Barnes wrote the theme music for Health Affairs This Week. He writes music under the name Fake Fever.

What is Health Affairs This Week?

Health Affairs This Week places listeners at the center of health policy’s proverbial water cooler. Join editors from Health Affairs, the leading journal of health policy research, and special guests as they discuss this week’s most pressing health policy news. All in 15 minutes or less.