Table of Contents
This case study highlights our work with Merge Healthcare, which is now part of IBM Watson Health. The company hired us to develop a white paper for thought leadership purposes. Specifically, they wanted to bring attention to one main point:
- How hospitals and imaging centers can leverage their enterprise imaging strategy to be more successful in a potential merger and acquisition
With Healthcare Service Consultants’ contribution, Merge Healthcare was able to provide insight and guidance to organizations who had not previously considered the impact of their choices as they relate to enterprise imaging.
1. Client Company Overview
Since our engagement with Merge Healthcare, IBM Watson Health brought the company into its fold. However, their mission has remained the same: provide artificial intelligence, enterprise imaging, and interoperability solutions that “seek to advance healthcare.”
2. Challenges
From 2005-2015 (approximately), there was significant consolidation amongst health systems and smaller hospitals. The rate of mergers and acquisitions was unprecedented and came about as a result of the difficult business environment for many smaller healthcare provider organizations. With any industry, such transitions involve a lot of moving pieces that typically center on financial and clinical factors. Organizations seldom consider the strategic value of their technology and how it might facilitate a successful combination of two business entities.
Merge knew it had a forward-thinking perspective on how hospitals and imaging centers could better prepare for growth through such means. In an effort to enhance the value of their enterprise imaging solutions and encourage healthcare IT leaders to think differently about their technology assets, Merge chose to develop a white paper that would bring all these concepts to the forefront.
3. How We Helped
Because this project was exclusively dedicated to thought leadership, it did not necessitate external client/customer input. And, while Merge Healthcare provides clinical IT solutions, this effort concentrated primarily on how business strategy could be shaped by technology assets.
To initiate the project, we interviewed a number of internal stakeholders. As a result of those conversations, three questions came into focus:
- How does a hospital or imaging center manage its imaging data across all of its departments?
- What technology does it use?
- How does the organization make information available?
These were critical questions that healthcare organizations needed to understand if they wanted to leverage their technology strategy as a way to enhance the success of their business strategy. These insights should inform the business strategy to speed integration, facilitate the realization of cost cutting efforts, and support efforts to improve the quality of care.
4. Results
Compiling everything we learned, plus our long history of expertise in the medical imaging market, we created the guiding principles of “5 Steps to Ensure Your Enterprise Imaging Strategy Facilitates Mergers & Acquisitions.”
With this white paper, Merge was able to share its unique perspective with key strategic decision makers who are typically involved in managing the strategy behind a health system merger or acquisition. It also enhanced the company’s positioning as a leading force in medical imaging–not just from a technology standpoint, but also from a strategic business partner standpoint.
