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How COVID-19 Is Increasing Consolidation

in Healthcare and Propelling Digital Transformation

Following the COVID-19 How Consolidation Could Help be how AI transforms clinical care and
pandemic, many U.S. health- Drive Digital Transformation patient outcomes. As the technology
care providers are emerging in The pandemic forced many healthcare continues to demonstrate its ability to
a weakened state financially. As organizations to see the need for tele- transform care, growing interest and a
pandemic-related federal health, and many are now looking to necessity to adopt will propel consolida-
grants and subsidies sunset, enhance their current capabilities. The tion in order to deploy AI at scale.
what strategies must providers timing for this self-identified “need”
take to ensure they’re financial- couldn’t be better as there are a substan- Now Is the Time to Partner or
ly secure going forward? Some tial number of private equity related Pursue M&A
options include M&A, partner- groups that have raised massive amounts With telemedicine, AI and data analyt-
ships and even restructuring that now need to be invested. ics poised to transform healthcare in the
for those hit hardest., Additionally, the increased “supply” of coming years, now is the time for health-
However, M&A and partner- money is actually greater than the care organizations to look for the right
ships not only offer a chance to BY CHAD BESTE AND VIN PHAN “demand” for funds which is leading partner, acquisition, or buyer to help
be financially healthy, but they toward escalating valuations, which in them advance and scale their digital
also present healthcare The pandemic also forced healthcare turn draws additional interest thereby transformation. With vast amounts of
providers with an opportunity to acceler- providers to adopt telehealth overnight as creating an ideal environment for organ- cash available at PE firms, buyers are
ate and scale digital transformation plans, in many cases, patients could no longer izations to help drive their digital strate- eager. And as the pandemic subsides
including telehealth capabilities. come in for a doctor’s visit or therapy ses- gies in 2021 and beyond. organizations will need to reduce risk, so
sion. Payers like Medicare and insurance Beyond telemedicine, consolidation they’re prepared for future events, while
COVID-19, Challenges and companies also significantly loosened the can also help healthcare organizations also advancing and scaling telehealth, as
Opportunities Within the U.S. rules for telemedicine during the pandem- develop their data analytics maturity and patients, payers and regulators look to
Healthcare System ic. And while some of these payments will AI capabilities. Healthcare organizations use this care model to reduce costs and
COVID-19 presented a new risk that remain, it’s likely new regulations around are lagging when it comes to data analyt- improve patient outcomes.
organizations hadn’t considered before. patient data, privacy and guidelines ics, as currently, only 24% of organiza-
While the pandemic is now under control, around how and when to use telehealth tions use advanced analytics. While some Chad Beste is Principal, Healthcare
future variants or new zoological diseases will be put in place. According to BDO’s healthcare organizations are still uncer- Advisory, and Vin Phan is Partner,
could present a risk that providers are 2021 Healthcare Digital Transformation tain about how data analytics can drive Healthcare Transaction Advisory Services,
unprepared for. Some organizations may Survey, 75% of healthcare organizations success, in the coming years, we’re likely BDO USA LLP.
evaluate their risk and conclude they need reported they were investing in telemedi- to see more interest in consolidation and
to consolidate to be better prepared for cine to improve the patient experience in partnerships to advance data analytics, Contact:
future challenges. According to BDO’s 2020—that’s up from just 42% in 2019. across both the clinical and financial side Alfredo Cepero, Managing Partner
2021 Healthcare CFO survey, 28% of Many of these organizations are looking to of organizations. 305-420-8006 / acepero@bdo.com
healthcare CFOs are considering a merger find the right vendor to improve their Finally, AI has garnered significant
in 2021, 24% are considering a joint ven- capabilities, but some may be interested in interest from the healthcare industry in Angelo Pirozzi, Partner
ture, 20% are considering selling to anoth- acquiring or partnering with a telehealth recent years. While current AI opportu- 646-520-2870 / apirozzi@bdo.comhat is
er organization and 17% are considering start up. nities are more centered in revenue cycle
acquiring another organization. optimization, the long-term benefit will

P.O. Box 19268 Plantation FL 33318
954-964-1660

A message from our President

So, You Thought You Didn’t Need to Be Vaccinated Against COVID-19!

How selfish, how foolish. As of this writing, COVID-19 positivity rates have ing in hospitals are vaccinated. Less than half of
almost doubled over the last couple of weeks. Single day positivity in one of our the staff working at skilled nursing facilities are
counties was at 11 percent! Ninety plus percent of the current COVID-19 hospi- vaccinated. So, in the face of these new COVID-
tal admission are unvaccinated. Why? 19 variants, how are we to stop the spread of the
As it was for measles, mumps, and polio, vaccinations have proven to be infections? The answer is that we need to get
extremely effective in minimizing the pain, suffering, and death associated with more people vaccinated. You need to be a better
these diseases. So, why is COVID-19 any different? Let me save you time, there neighbor.
is no good reason! In the last month in Broward County, we have
In a recent statement by the American Hospital Association, they lay out very gone from an average number of cases of 139 (7-
clearly what our message should be to people that have failed to get vaccinated. day average) to the most recent being 547!
They are: Almost a fourfold increase. Statewide, for the
• COVID-19 vaccinations are safe. period 7/09/21 – 7/15/21, 45,604 cases with a
• COVID-19 vaccinations are effective at reducing both the risk of becoming positivity rate of 11.5%. Wake up! The excuses
infected and spreading the infection to others. we have heard up to now are bogus, the vaccine
• COVID-19 has a significant risk of transmission both before the onset of is safe and, as a community, we need to drive Jaime Caldwell
symptoms and in the absence of symptoms. These risks are substantially higher towards higher vaccination levels. Even in the
among unvaccinated individuals. counties having higher vaccine compliance, we
• Among unvaccinated individuals, COVID-19 infections pose a substantial are seeing surges in the number of COVID-19 infections of, mostly, the unvacci-
risk of severe illness and death and may lead to long-term adverse impacts to nated. Do you want things to get back to normal, get vaccinated.
health. These risks are higher among those individuals with certain underlying This is not a hoax; you could possibly die without a vaccination. Even worse,
health conditions, like many patients in hospitals or who are seen in hospital- you might be the cause of someone else dying, young and old, because they
based ambulatory settings. weren’t as lucky as you were. For once, think not only about yourself, but oth-
Some sobering information. Little more than half of healthcare workers work- ers!

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