It was another strong year for mergers and acquisitions in 2014 with 95 hospital transactions announced, according to a new analysis conducted by Kaufman, Hall & Associates, LLC. Even though there was a slight decline in transactions from 2013 to 2014, it was still the third consecutive year that 95 transactions were announced.

Mergers and acquisitions are looking more and more attractive as the industry shifts towards value-based reimbursement and population health management. In order to achieve the scale and scope required for this new reimbursement model, hospitals have been developing larger, more flexible and less traditional combinations.

In 2010 there were only 66 transactions, which translates to a 44 percent increase from 2010 to 2014. In the fourth quarter of 2014, there were 29 transactions compared to the 25 transactions in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Out of the transactions in 2014, 80 of them involved acquisitions of not-for-profit organizations and 15 of them were for-profit organizations.

The analysis found that there are more transactions to create large, fully integrated health systems as well as partnerships among strong community hospitals and small health systems. There also seems to be a trend toward blurring the lines between hospitals, insurers and physician organizations.

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